Manchester Derby Controversy; Bruno Fernandes’ Offside Goal Allowed to Stand
The Manchester Derby played in the Old Trafford where the Red Devils emerged victorious has been entangled in controversy ever since Bruno Fernandes scored the first goal for United in the 78th minute.
The debate that has been going around is that should the equalizer scored by Bruno Fernandes have been retained by the referee or should it have been ruled offside.
Fernandes goal offside or not?
The line referees had in fact ruled the goal to be offside initially as they thought Rashford was in an offside position while the build-up was in play.
However, later a decision was made that Rashford had not interfered with the flow of the play and thus, the goal was allowed to stand by the referee.
It was in the 78th minute of the match that the Portuguese had netted the ball into the sky blues’ goal. However prior to Casemiro’s through ball, Marcus Rashford was clearly spotted in an offside position as he ran towards it.
But before Rashford could get any touch on the ball, Fernandes, the Portuguese player took a shot and put it right past Ederson, City’s goalkeeper.
Guardiola on Rashford being offside
Amidst the ongoing debate about the legitimacy of the first goal scored by Bruno Fernandes, City’s manager Pep Guardiola talked to sources after the match and said that Rashford had been offside, he distracted their keeper and central defenders.
“The rule is the rule but I know how we play,” he stated.
Amidst the online debate regarding the same, former Chelsea goalkeeper, Petr Cech also gave his two cents saying that the first United goal had proven that rulemakers did not understand the game themselves.
According the FIFA rules, it is stated that a player is actively interfering with the play in case they touch the ball after it has been passed to them by a teammate.
However, in case the player does not touch the ball, they can still influence the play and in such circumstances, it should be ruled as offside if the referee feels that their offside position has actively interfered with the opponent player(s).
The referee in the Derby, however, has refused to acknowledge that Rashford had in any way interfered with the play which ultimately led to Fernandes’s goal being allowed to stand.
