Handball rule remains a mystery to Luton boss after Mengi's goal is ruled out

​Luton boss Rob Edwards admitted he just doesn’t get the handball rule this season after seeing Teden Mengi’s goal ruled out against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

With Town trailing 1-0 in their crucial Premier League contest with the Reds, a corner was swung in from the right hand side which saw Mengi eventually bundle the ball over the line and appear to have made it 1-1. However, eagle-eyed referee Darren England, who was to have a fairly appalling game, one ‘foul’ given against Ross Barkley in the second half bordering on laughable, had spotted the ball touching the defender’s arm before he applied the finish and blew his whistle to disallow the equaliser.

The rule this season states that if a player scores immediately after contact with his hand or arm, even if accidentally, the goal has to be chalked off. However, had the ball struck Mengi in such a way at the other end of the field inside his own box, play would have been allowed to continue, as it hadn’t been deliberate and he wasn’t making his body bigger, although that it isn’t always the case with some of the decisions witnessed in top flight games this term.

Giving his thoughts on the confusing rules, Edwards said: “I’ve looked at it back a number of times, I know to the letter of the law it’s the right decision of course, it just seems so harsh. If it’s consistent across the board I've got no complaints, I can’t can I? But we’re in a bit of a weird place with handball if we’re ruling out goals like that. Other people have had the same sort of stuff, so I can't complain about it, I just don’t get the handball rule really.”

Mengi himself was already going through his celebrations in front of the Luton fans before realising what had occurred, having to cut them short and head back to his defensive position with the visitors remaining 1-0 to the good. Thankfully there was no such issue when Luke Berry netted a late leveller in the second half, as speaking afterwards, the centre half, who was called up to the England U21 squad this week, added: “Yes, thought I scored, but the referee made his decision. We stuck at it and we eventually got the equaliser so that was good for the team.”