Sydney FC great Alex Brosque fumes over alleged handball in Wanderers' 1-0 ALM win
Anthony Pantazopoulos (centre) was alleged to have touched the ball with his hand. (Getty Images: Cameron Spencer)
In short:
Wanderers defender Anthony Pantazopoulos appeared to touch the ball with his hand when Joe Lolley had a shot on goal.
The Video assistant referee judged no penalty should be awarded.
The Wanderers defeated the Sky Blues 1-0.
Sydney FC great Alex Brosque has expressed shock after his former club was denied what looked like a clear penalty in its 1-0 derby loss to the Wanderers.
The Wanderers snapped the Sky Blues' four-match winning streak in the A-League Men when star striker Alou Kuol scored from close range in the 51st minute of Saturday night's blockbuster clash in Parramatta.
But the Sky Blues were left fuming in the 90th minute when their handball appeals were waved away, despite Joe Lolley's shot from outside the box cannoning into the hand of Wanderers defender Anthony Pantazopoulos.
The shot was goal-bound and Pantazopoulos's hand moved slightly away from his body as it allegedly made contact with the ball, blocking its path into the back of the net.
The video assistant referee judged no penalty should be awarded, sparking more debate about what actually constitutes a handball.
Sydney FC coach Ufuk Talay (right) approached match officials to speak about the incident. (Getty Images: Cameron Spencer)
Brosque, who spent all but one season of his glittering 243-match A-League Men career at the Sky Blues, could not hide his shock at the decision.
"We've seen coaches throughout the first five rounds not understand and not know what a handball is," Brosque told Paramount+.
"The arm's away from the body, it hits his hand. What is a handball?
"For me it's a handball, every day, every game of football on any part of this planet.
"It is coming in quick but the arm is away from his body. It's going towards goal, [it's a] penalty."
Sydney FC coach Ufuk Talay cut a frustrated figure as he talked to the referees after the final whistle.
But he did his best to play down the handball incident when asked following the match.
"The players obviously thought it was a handball, so it comes down to the referee's discretion," Talay said.
AAP