It was a suitably controversial end to a madcap Premier League match.
Burnley were denied a stoppage-time equaliser against Brentford at Turf Moor after Ashley Barnes’ finish was disallowed for handball following a six-minute VAR check.
The hosts had clawed their way back level at 3-3 after going 3-0 down in the first half before Mikkel Damsgaard put Brentford ahead again in the third of seven minutes added on.
Barnes thought he had salvaged a point… but then came one of the longest VAR stoppages of the season and a controversial decision which enraged the majority of the crowd at Turf Moor — including an NFL legend — and reignited the debate over what should constitute a handball.
What happened?
Chasing another equaliser in the dying moments, Burnley captain Maxime Esteve lofted a pass into the box towards Lyle Foster, who knocked it across to Barnes. The striker brought the ball down before volleying it beyond Brentford goalkeeper Hakon Valdimarsson.
Turf Moor erupted in joy, but as the players returned to the centre circle, referee Sam Barrott paused the restart as a VAR check got underway for a possible handball.
The ball strikes Barnes before his disallowed goal (Sky Sports)
The check took nearly six minutes, with frustration growing within the stadium, and arguments breaking out between the two benches and the players on the pitch. Foster was booked while the VAR check was going on after getting into an argument with Brentford midfielder Yehor Yarmolyuk, who had earlier been substituted.
The BBC commentator Maz Farookhi reported that Barnes had said to Barrott, “It didn’t come off my arm, I chested it down” as the debate continued.
Players clash after the handball controversy (Molly Darlington/Getty Images)
Barrott twice had to separate himself from players surrounding him before the VAR check persuaded him to disallow the goal.
Why was it disallowed?
Barrott finally relayed to the crowd on the stadium PA system that Barnes had “accidentally handled” the ball and that it “led directly” to the goal, awarding Brentford a free kick instead.
#BURBRE – 90+8’ VAR OVERTURN
After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of goal to Burnley.
Referee announcement: “After review, Burnley 35 accidentally handles the ball. That leads to a direct goal. My final decision will be defensive free-kick to…
— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) February 28, 2026
Law 12 of football’s Laws of the Game says that if a player scores “immediately after the ball has touched their hand/arm, even if accidental”, then an offence has been committed.
The issue with this goal seems to be whether or not Barnes definitely touched the ball with his arm: replays suggest the ball was very close, but Barnes was convinced he had not.
What did people say about it?
J.J. Watt, the former NFL star who is an investor at Burnley and was at Turf Moore for Saturday’s game found it hard to contain his frustration at the VAR decision.
If it takes 10 minutes, it’s not clear and obvious…
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) February 28, 2026
He was not alone. Ashley Williams, the former Wales defender, told BBC Sport he felt the wrong decision had been made.
“I think it has hit him on the hip,” he said. “I don’t think it is clear. I don’t know how they disallowed that goal. It should stand. Scott Parker and Burnley will feel hard done by.
“If they win that game, they have a chance of staying up, but now that has probably relegated them on a decision which is not clear. I can see why they feel so aggrieved by that.”
Parker said on Barnes’ disallowed goal: “I saw it on the big screen at the start and was thinking ‘It looks like his hand was beside his side’. It looks so, so harsh.
“The world we’re in at this moment in time, we’re all looking for perfection. The game is looking for perfection, in general people are looking for perfection, whether it’s a picture you’re taking of yourself or whatever it may be, and that’s the way the game’s gone now.