Don't think I've ever seen a penalty disallowed like that before(rightly or wrongly) The problem with VAR in football, is there are so many rules that are open to interpretation. On another day, a different ref may have seen that differently....
3 things wrong with the decision: 1. Nowhere in the rules is it stated a yellow card be awarded for staggering a penalty run up. 2. Before the stagger there were several Rochdale players in the area ....This under VAR should therefore be deemed the first offence so its a penalty retake! 3. I’ve lumped on Son to score a brace .....That would have made my bet up!
Ref on BT says that VAR was not involved in the Son penalty , he said it was the refs decision & he was right , Son stopped & restarted which was an offence & bookable, although I personally have never heard or seen it before , could be a recent rule change but I havn"t a clue
FEINTING IN THE RUN-UP to take a penalty kick to confuse opponents IS PERMITTED as part of football. Law 14
So the ref missed the encroachment by the players just before the goal scoring opportunity & stagger .....Isn’t that what VAR is for to point out when the ref hasn’t seen an incident in the penalty box?
Correct but stopping & then restarting apparently IS NOT PERMITTED according to the ref on the box ( not me )
I believe that it used to be banned around 2010 but the rule was reworded in the last couple of years and it now makes no mention of stopping during a run up being illegal, just that feinting is allowed as long as it isn't at the end of the run. I've just read an explanation from a referee that as long as the player takes more steps after his pause it is considered a feint during run up under the laws.
At penalties it isn't a case of which offence occurred first it's which is most serious that's why if a keeper comes off his line he should be booked but if a player encroaches he shouldn't. The encroaching player doesn't directly affect the taking of the kick while the actions of the keeper or the penalty taker does.
As an ex ref, I’d have cautioned him too. It’s effectively cheating and just as bad as “simulation”. The 6-1 scoreline only goes to show they didn’t need to go down the gamesmanship route, but they just can’t help themselves
You are awarded a penalty. A one-off chance to beat the keeper from 12 yards, with the added bonus that he can't move until you kick the ball. The advantage is already stacked in your favour. If the only way you can put it away is to use feinting and stuttering run-ups, you're a poor excuse for a footballer.
Why is it cheating, Goalkeepers move all the time which is against the rules and cheating. Putting a pause in your run up 5 yards from the ball and then carrying on and shooting is far less cheating than stepping forwards 3 yards and diving - which keepers do all the time. As Supertyke has pointed out several times there is nothing in the laws that say its not allowed. To me its no worse than looking at the right corner running up shaping to shoot to the right corner, then at the last minute bending it in to the left. If the FA want to make it cheating then fine - put it in the rules that once a run has been started there should be no sudden changes of pace or stops - but currently there is nothing that says that.