Paul Scholes made clear his unhappiness with Ayoze Perez’s goal for Real Betis in their Europa League match against Manchester United.
The Red Devils ran out 4-1 winners on Thursday night but only after the Leicester loanee had levelled the last-16 tie.
United were unhappy with the goal, which was given after a VAR check for a potential handball by Juanmi in the build-up.
The Spanish forward appeared to control the ball with the help of his arm in a moment deemed accidental by officials, which did not trigger a foul according to the rules of the game because he was not the goalscorer.
But Scholes told BT Sport: “It’s handball and it’s not accidental handball, look where his arm goes!”
What a finish from Ayoze Perez to equalise for Real Betis! 🎯
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 9, 2023
That reverse angle 😮💨#UEL pic.twitter.com/PSzAdQfagp
“If you watch closely, I think it touched his arm first anyway.
“These rules are stupid, aren’t they? Handball is handball, it’s handball that led to a goal and should have been disallowed.”
Fellow ex-United player Owen Hargreaves agreed as he thought it was common sense for the goal to be chalked off.
“Even if you’re playing with your mates in a training game down the park, you’d say handball,” he added. “These laws are getting ridiculous.”
Despite the equaliser, United claimed a significant first-leg advantage thanks to second-half goals from Antony, Bruno Fernandes and Wout Weghorst.
