Fast forward to the 99th minute and with Burnley now trailing 4-3, Turf Moor was sent into raptures as Barnes thought he had equalised with the final kick of the game.
Fans were left waiting for five minutes as VAR attempted to determine whether the ball struck the arm of Barnes in the build-up to his goal.
The VAR decision of ‘accidental handball’ led to Shearer describing the rule as “messed up in every single way”.
“I just hate the handball rule. Whether it’s today’s decision at Burnley or any of the other controversial ones this season, they have messed it up.
“Now, they’ll say that things are better in the Premier League than they are abroad, but that doesn’t wash with me.
“It is so messed up in every single way, there is ‘deliberate’, ‘proximity’, ‘natural’, ‘unnatural’ – there are so many different ways they have to interpret things and it isn’t fit for purpose.
“For fans to be sat in the stadium and waiting for three, four minutes, or for however long it took today at Turf Moor, it doesn’t seem right and it isn’t fair.”
Despite tasting defeat, Parker was restrained in his response to the decision.
“Maybe a little bit of injustice. I’ve not watched it back. I saw it on the big screen and I was thinking it looks like his hand is beside his side,” he said.
“I don’t want to say too much because no doubt I’m going to get quoted and I might be wrong. It looks so, so harsh.
“In the modern day, we want perfection. Of course, there are elements of it that make it what it is. I’ve not seen it back, but offside is offside and if it’s handball, it’s handball.”
Former Premier League official Darren Cann said despite Barnes’ handball being accidental, it was “correctly disallowed”.
“The handball law states that if a player scores in the opponents’ goal immediately after the ball has touched their hand/arm, even if accidental, then it’s a handball offence,” he said.
“Barnes’ handball was accidental, but was correctly disallowed under the current law.
“Perhaps the lawmakers Ifab, who coincidentally met in Cardiff today to discuss law amendments, will one day revert to only penalising deliberate handballs, but until this time, accidental handballs by the goalscorer will continue to be penalised.”
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