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Watford player uses the ‘Hand of God’ to score a last minute equaliser against Southampton

Abdoulaye Doucoure cheekily used his hand to punch the ball into the net and sink Southampton hearts in the final moments

Thousands will be calling for the immediate implementation of video assistant referees when they see this.

You may hear Southampton fans being particularly vociferous when it comes to singing the praises of VAR.

And we don’t blame them, seeing as they were on the receiving end of the biggest miscarriage of justice since Diego Maradona used the ‘Hand of God’ to score against England in the 1986 World Cup.


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Doucoure hiding his hands from the ref after the goal

Reuters
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Doucoure hiding his hands from the ref after the goal

Ok, maybe I’m getting a little bit carried away but this was a very bad miss from the officials.

The Saints were on the verge of securing only their second away of the season only for it to be cruelly denied by a hotly contested Doucoure goal in the 90th minute.

Mauricio Pellegrino’s side had gone 2-0 up and looked like condemning Watford to their eighth defeat in nine league games.


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Need it a bit clearer?

Getty Images - Getty
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Need it a bit clearer?

Andre Gray pulled one back on the hour mark only for Doucoure to break Saints hearts with a *cheeky/unsportsmanlike (*delete as appropriate) finish.

The Ivorian started the move on the left flank before drifting across the pitch and into lots of space as the ball was headed back across the box from a cross.

He was on hand to ‘nod’ the ball home in front of Alex McCarthy.

Is this clear enough?

Reuters
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Is this clear enough?

Vicarage road went into pandemonium, but all the Southampton players immediately started appealing about the decision.

And they were completely right.

Doucoure actually uses his right hand to slap the ball into the net after he failed to make connection with his head.

Undeniable.

Reuters
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Undeniable.

The sad thing for Southampton is had VAR been in use during this game, a quick consultation of the video ref would have simply disallowed the goal.

Instead Saints fans will probably continue to talk about this goal for years to come.

Just like England fans after Maradona’s.


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