Why was HAGL's goal valid even though VAR showed the ball touched Ly Duc's hand?

Referee Tran Ngoc Anh checks VAR at Hoa Xuan Stadium

The match between Da Nang Club and HAGL is taking place quite intensely and fiercely, when Yuri Souza's penalty kick for the home team was successfully blocked by young goalkeeper Trung Kien. Then in the 34th minute, center back Jairo opened the score for the away team HAGL.

That was the situation where VAR intervened. Slow motion images showed that the Da Nang player's attempt to clear the ball bounced off the hand of HAGL's central defender Ly Duc, before the ball bounced to Jairo Rodrigues' feet to shoot into the Da Nang club's net.

Referee Tran Ngoc Anh then went to the VAR podium to review the slow-motion replay, which clearly showed the ball touching Ly Duc's hand. After consulting with the VAR assistant referees, he awarded the goal to the mountain town team.

Referee Tran Ngoc Anh gave a yellow card to HAGL Technical Director Vu Tien Thanh.

Regarding this, a former Vietnamese golden whistle referee said: "The law stipulates that if the ball touches the hand and the player immediately scores, the goal will not be recognized, even if the hand touch is accidental.

But if after that situation of player A accidentally touching the ball with his hand, after a period of time, another player, player B, scores a goal, that is, not immediately, then the referee can ignore that situation of player A accidentally touching the ball with his hand and recognize player B's goal.

In HAGL's goal, Ly Duc, in an attempt to compete, did not intentionally play the ball with his hand when the Da Nang defender kicked the ball and it bounced off his hand. The ball then went to Jairo's feet and this player scored, so referee Tran Ngoc Anh may have recognized the goal for HAGL.

Returning to the match at Hoa Xuan Stadium, after many efforts with 12 shots, Da Nang Club equalized 1-1 in the 68th minute thanks to striker Werick Caetano. This was the 3rd goal of the Brazilian player while this was the first time HAGL's defense conceded a goal in V-League 2024 - 2025.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/vi-sao-ban-thang-cua-hagl-hop-le-du-var-chi-ra-bong-cham-tay-ly-duc-185241003193952319.htm