Hojlund on social media: “I didn’t even touch the ball with my hand.”

“I didn’t even touch the ball with my hand,” shouts Rasmus Hojlund from social media. The Danish center forward doesn’t agree and has his say via Instagram. He publishes the video of the offending action, unleashing the anger of Napoli fans: “Never touch it, warrior”, “Rasmus don’t worry”. In the 71st minute he scored the equalizer against Verona: the goal first validated by referee Marchetti was annulled after a VAR review due to a previous handball. Before entering the goal, the ball hits the wrist of the Napoli attacker. No doubts for the referee after the warning from VAR: goal disallowed due to the immediacy rule. This was followed by heated protests from the Italian bench, as well as from the stands packed with managers and injured players, from Lukaku to Anguissa, everyone at Maradona rebelled after the referee’s decision. Even Antonio Conte, who expressed himself on the episode in rather harsh tones after the match: “Hojlund’s goal? I don’t know where his arm should have been placed. Did he have to amputate it? These are subjective assessments of those who are watching the video. We accept it.”

Napoli, unrecognizable in the first half, took to the field in the second half with a more aggressive attitude, which first led to McTominay’s goal, then to Hojlund’s goal which was then disallowed. Cross from the left by Politano, the Dane freed himself from Bella-Kotchap and, intending to control the ball with his chest, hit it with his right hand (wrist?) If Hojlund’s goal had been validated, perhaps the match would have gone differently. But in football the ifs and buts leave whatever time they find. The data suggests that, despite evidence of great sacrifice, Rasmus has been without a goal for two days. With Lazio and Verona he did not score either goals or assists. So far the Dane has scored 9 goals in all tournaments of the season and made 2 assists. However, the goals are not equally distributed between the races. Rasmus, in fact, has a habit of scoring doubles: he has scored 3 so far, with Cremonese, Juventus and Sporting Lisbon. Despite the haunted evening at Maradona, despite the controversy over the refereeing decisions, the positive note for Rasmus Hojlund is the prize received before the match from Valentina De Laurentiis. The Dane won the December “Rising Star of The Month”, reserved for Under 23 players: he scored 4 goals in 3 games. At least Rasmus has a good reason to let off steam after the disallowed goal.