I've been reading opinions regarding the penalty decision on here and on Twitter. Emotion plays a big role in supporting your team and inevitable bias will sometimes play a part in an individual's thought processes.
I've watched the penalty repeatedly in slow motion and tried my best to remain neutral. For me, it comes down to whether grabbing the upper body, even when it's not enough to put off the player heading towards goal, is deemed illegal via the rulebook!
In my opinion, after studying the incident Doucoure is right up against the back of Chilwell as he heads towards the goal. His legs DO NOT interfere with Chilwell so we can count out any tripping up or nudges/contact to knock Chilwell off balance.
However, Doucoure does grab Chilwell unnecessarily with both hands! This was a clumsy thing to do for an experienced professional and I suspect should be challenged by his coaches/manager.
I DO NOT THINK THIS WAS ENOUGH TO BRING CHILWELL DOWN THOUGH!
I think Chilwell does have the ability to muscle off Doucore and take his shot. However, as we know he drops. I believe you can clearly see Chilwell cheat. However, I understand most players are told/coached to do this. I suppose it comes down to whether fans are happy with this being a big part of the game as it's ubiquitous across the league and has been for many years.
So is this cheating or simply an experienced player just playing for the penalty?
Also, do the rules state that you should not manhandle, even softly, a player running in on goal, even if that player could easily carry on running?
I think in an ideal scenario Chilwell should've carried on and had a shot. If he did not score then VAR, if they thought Doucoure did illegally grab Chilwell, could then give a penalty. However, this depends on the quality of the VAR decisions. There do seem to be strange decisions made sometimes that do make me question its integrity. However, that may be my unconscious bias at play.
I don't like diving. I would like measures taken to reduce it because I believe it's taking away from the authenticity of the game.