Unusual Aberdeen 'handball' spotted in Hearts clash as VAR role put under microscope after missed flashpoint

Aberdeen’s sublime 100 percent start to the Scottish Premiership season continued against Hearts after a dramatic late strike from midfielder Ante Palaversa.

However, Hearts fans may feel the Croatian should have hit the headlines for completely different reasons after the referee and VAR failed to spot a bizarre late handball in his own penalty area. The incident came at the end of an eventful contest, which also saw Jorge Grant see red in the 78th minute. Dons keeper Dimitar Mitov came to collect a cross during a period of pressure from Hearts.

With just seconds remaining of the six added minutes, Mitov’s catch was celebrated like a goal, and Palaversa was one of first to run over to congratulate his keeper as the penalty box cleared.

However, during the scenes of celebration fans spotted a bizarre moment where he motions to pat the keeper on the chest, and his arm appears to touch the ball while it's in the keeper's hands. Applying the rules strictly, it should have been a penalty if his hand touched the ball, and while Beaton could hardly have been expected to see it live, fans have been asking why VAR didn't intervene.

Some stated that it would have been against the 'spirit' of the VAR protocol to step in - because there was no advantage gained.

Many Hearts fans may be left frustrated by the ordeal which is not too dissimilar to the high-profile incident which occurred in last season’s Champions League quarter-final where Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel was left perplexed at the referee's failure to award a penalty after Gabriel’s miscommunication with David Raya. The Spanish goalkeeper had passed the ball along his six yard line to his team-mate from a goal-kick, but the defender didn't realise the ball was live, and stopped it with his hand in order to take the goal-kick himself.

Tuchel labelled the decision as a 'kid's mistake' that should have been punished, the ref took a sympathetic view and didn't penalise it - again, since there was no sporting advantage gained by the offence.

Hearts are in need of a domestic victory after an eight match winless start to the new Premiership campaign. So far, their only victory across all competitions came in the Europa Conference League match in a behind doors clash with Belarus side Dinamo Minsk.

The Jambos resume their league campaign with a home clash against a St Mirren team that currently find themselves in the top half of the table at this early stage.