Williamson handball hands Paris FC late penalty as Arsenal draw 2-2

WHAT HAPPENED
Leah Williamson's handball brought a late penalty that allowed Paris FC to level Arsenal in a 2-2 Women's Champions League draw. With Arsenal leading 2-1, Williamson stopped a short goal-kick with her hand after a quick pass from goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez; Maeline Mendy converted the penalty.

WHY THE PENALTY WAS AWARDED
IFAB guidance on the laws of the game explains the ruling. Law 16 says: "In goal-kick restarts, if the ball is stationary within the goal area and is kicked by any defending player, the goal-kick is considered to have been taken. 'If, after the ball is in play, [a player] commits a handball offence, a penalty kick is awarded if the offence occurred inside the kicker's penalty area.'" Law 12 adds: "It is an offence if a player deliberately touches the ball with their hand/arm." Because the ball had been played and was in play when Williamson handled it inside the penalty area, a penalty was awarded.

REACTIONS
Arsenal felt aggrieved by the decision but described the incident as a learning moment. Assistant coach Aaron D'Antino said they would look at how they get the ball to Williamson to avoid similar situations: "If we're looking at what we can control, it's just passing the ball to Leah from what I remember seeing. The ball was still rolling and she [Rodriguez] was moving it to Leah for her to take the goal-kicks as we normally do... So maybe the learning in that is how we get the ball to Leah, so we don't put ourselves in that situation." Former Arsenal and Scotland defender Jen Beattie said she felt the referee Iuliana Demetrescu got the decision wrong.

PAST SIMILAR INCIDENTS
The episode echoes previous errors in European competition. In November 2024 Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings committed an identical mistake against Club Brugge; Brugge won a penalty that Hans Vanaken scored in a 1-0 victory. Then-Villa boss Unai Emery called it "the biggest mistake I witnessed in my career." Earlier the same year, Arsenal centre-back Gabriel handled in a Champions League game against Bayern Munich; on that occasion Arsenal were given the chance to retake the goal-kick. Then Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel said: "He [Gabriel] touched the ball with the hand because he thought it was not in game, but it was in game and the referee admitted it was in game and was handball," and described the error in not awarding Bayern a penalty as a "kid's mistake." The source notes Tuchel is now England head coach.

COMPETITION IMPACT
The late penalty left Arsenal fourth in their Champions League group after two matches; the club would have been second had they held the lead and won in the French capital.