Ivory Coast Defender Escapes Red Card Despite Recreating Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’

• The Championship game between QPR and West Brom had a bizarre incident
• West Brom defender Cedric Kipre inadvertently recreated the ‘Hand of God’
• The defender somehow escaped a red card despite a blatant handball

Just when we thought we had seen it all in football, West Brom defender Cedric Kipre produced another viral moment for the books.

The defender re-created Diego Maradona’s infamous ‘Hand of God’ and got away without seeing a red card.

The incident occurred Wednesday night when The Baggies visited Loftus Road to face QPR in the Championship.

QPR scored early through Sam Field, but West Brom turned the game on its head with two quick-fire goals from Mikey Johnston and Grady Diangana.

The 'Hand of God' incident

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In the second half, the home side pushed for an equaliser, and it almost came when Sam Field’s goal-bound header was expertly punched over the bar by Cedric Kipre.

There was only one problem, however, as Kipre is not a goalkeeper but a West Brom defender.

Despite the blatant handball from Kipre, the referee and linesman overlooked the incident, to the bemusement of QPR manager Marti Cifuentes, as reported by Standard.co.uk.

It should be noted that Kipre disguised his handball so well that QPR fans behind the goal hardly noticed it. They simply gasped in disbelief as Field’s effort failed to find the back of the net.

The slice of controversy was crucial for both teams as the game ended in a 2-2 stalemate.

Speaking after the game, QPR boss Cifuentes mocked the decision to deny his team a penalty, saying as per The Sun:

"I've been told that West Brom played with two keepers for a while,"

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"I'm not here to complain. I'm here to make sure my team is better, so if we need to play against two keepers then we need to practice playing against two keepers.

QPR defender Geoff Eltringham was not so modest with his comments as he branded the decision to overlook a penalty as “terrible”.

“It was a blatant handball from Kipre - it can’t be missed. It’s a terrible, terrible decision by the referee. We were unfortunate," he said.

Joe Aribo earns praise from manager

Elsewhere, Sports Brief also reported on the praise Joe Aribo received from his manager after Southampton’s stoppage-time goal against Birmingham City on March 2.

Russel Martin described Taribo as a “brilliant player” after the Nigerian’s 96th minute winner.

He now has three goals in 24 appearances for the Saints, who are eight points off automatic promotion places.