Why was Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta allowed to re-take his penalty against Manchester United?

Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta was allowed to re-take his penalty against Manchester United after getting a double touch on his first effort.

He did so on the first time of asking, but VAR spotted that the Frenchman had struck the ball twice, kicking it with his right foot into his left foot.

Why Jean-Philippe Mateta was allowed to re-take his penalty against Manchester United

Rather than ruling the goal out and continuing with the game, as happened to Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez in a similar situation against Real Madrid in the Champions League last season, Mateta was given another chance by the officials.

He stepped up again and tapped the ball low into the opposite corner from his first, wrong-footing goalkeeper Senne Lammens for the second time.

Mateta was allowed to re-take the penalty due to a rule change over the summer, which was brought in as a result of that Alvarez incident.

Previously, Law 14 stated that the kicker must not play the ball again until it has touched another player, but the International Football Board Association (IFAB), who control the game’s rules, has now updated it in circumstances like Mateta’s.

Where the double touch was clearly unintentional, the taker is now allowed to re-spot the ball and take it again.

That does not apply if they intentionally touch the ball twice, in which case the defending team will be awarded a free-kick.

The change was brought in on 1 July, and was communicated to all relevant parties over the summer.

In FourFourTwo‘s opinion, this is a fair update to the rules.

It feels harsh to penalise a player for a clearly accidental incident, where they are not trying to gain any unfair advantage.

Nevertheless, the defending team, in this case United, may feel slightly aggrieved that Mateta gets to correct a mistake of his own making.