Keith Hackett Gives Verdict on Controversial Dean Henderson Decision in Palace 1-0 Man City

Former head of PGMOL Keith Hackett has given his verdict on the controversial Dean Henderson incident from the FA Cup final.

The 2024/25 season will be forever remembered by Crystal Palace fans. In the FA Cup final, the Eagles beat Manchester City 1-0 to secure their first-ever major trophy as a club. Eberechi Eze finished off a lethal counter-attack that is now so synonymous with Oliver Glasner’s team, ensuring that Man City would end the campaign without silverware.

It was a momentous win for Palace, one that also ensured they will be playing European football for the first time in the 2025/26 term. Palace number one Dean Henderson had a sensational game, denying Omar Marmoush from the penalty spot in a game that saw him make a string of brilliant saves.

Wayne Rooney Slams VAR After Dean Henderson Avoids Red Card vs Man City

Rooney was not happy with the decision – and even went one step further with his assessment of the technology.

The goalkeeper, however, was quite fortunate to have been on the pitch for 90 minutes. Henderson handled the ball outside of his area as he closed down Erling Haaland. The referees deemed that the ball was moving away from the goal, but there is a fair argument that Henderson, by touching the ball, had denied a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

Now, as per Football Insider, retired referee Keith Hackett, who spent over three decades as a referee across all levels of the game, has voiced his opinion on what happened.

‘Unsporting Behaviour’

Hackett reflects on incident from final

Dean Henderson playing for Crystal Palace

Hackett, in discussing the game, noted that a goal-scoring opportunity is decided by a multitude of factors. Haaland going away from the goal in his movement, in turn, is something that would work in Henderson’s favour. The fact remains, though, that he handled the ball outside his area. Hackett said:

“The criteria for the denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity is that the following must be considered. The distance between the offence and the goal, the general direction of the play, the likelihood of keeping or gaining control of the ball and the location and number of defenders present.

“Despite the position of the incident, the general direction of play was away from goal, therefore it did not deny an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. However, if proven, handling outside of the penalty area should result in a direct free-kick and a yellow card for unsporting behaviour.”

As Hackett mentioned, a direct free-kick should have been awarded, at the very least, for Henderson’s actions, regardless of whether it was intentional or not. Palace, of course, will not give this too much thought after such a momentous win, but the decision is something that Pep Guardiola was evidently annoyed by.