Crystal Palace goalkeeper was not shown a red card in the first half of Saturday’s FA Cup final between Crystal Palace and Manchester City, despite his hand appearing to make contact with the ball outside the box.
Henderson’s hand pushed the ball away from the path of onrushing City striker Erling Haaland when he was not inside his penalty area, but was not sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity (DOGSO).
On-field referee Stuart Attwell initially let play continue but the incident was reviewed by video assistant referee (VAR) Jarred Gillett, who ruled that Henderson should not be sent off.
Henderson went on to save a penalty from City forward Omar Marmoush 14 minutes later.
Crystal Palace have the lead… but were they let off the hook?
Dean Henderson appeared to handle the ball outside the area, but the on-field officials seem to have not spotted it.
A subsequent VAR check caused Palace fans to hold their breath, but, maybe surprisingly, nothing… pic.twitter.com/MrmjdMeXN4
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) May 17, 2025
What was the incident?
In the 23rd minute of the match City centre-back Josko Gvardiol played a long ball over the top for striker Erling Haaland. The Norwegian got ahead of Palace defenders Marc Guehi and Maxence Lacroix and attempted to control the pass before it was swept away by the right hand of the onrushing Henderson just outside the box, diverting the ball away from goal.
Despite Haaland appearing to be through on goal if he had touched the ball, play continued and there were no immediate protests from Haaland or Omar Marmoush, who was also in the vicinity.
The incident was reviewed by VAR at the next stoppage, with Gillett finding no grounds to overturn the original decision to play on and send Henderson off.
VAR decided that there was no red card offence (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)
What is considered when sending a player off for DOGSO?
- Distance between the offence and the goal
- General direction of the play
- Likelihood of keeping or gaining control of the ball
- Location and number of defenders
IFAB’s laws of the game state that a player should receive a red card for “denying the opposing team a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by committing a deliberate handball,” and for the same offence for a non-deliberate handball outside the box.
A goalkeeper handling the ball outside of their box does not constitute an automatic red card.
Why wasn’t Henderson sent off?
The Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOL), the body responsible for refereeing games in England, would only advise VAR officials to be involved in a DOGSO incident if they thought there was valid grounds for sending a player off.
The fact that the incident was not overturned by VAR implies that there was deemed to be no clear and obvious reasoning to give the 28-year-old a red card, with that outcome a lesser possibility.
(Top photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)