Manchester City were dissatisfied with Bruno Fernandes’ goal which was confirmed in the Manchester derby last night. The defending Premier League champions thought the goal should not have been legal because Marcus Rashford was involved in the game.
Manchester United beat Man City 2-1 at Old Trafford, Saturday (14/1/2023). Having taken the lead through Jack Grealish’s header in the 60th minute, The Citizens finally succumbed after Fernandes scored a goal in the 78th minute, followed by Rashford’s goal in the 82nd minute.
MU’s first goal caused debate. The linesman raised the flag indicating the goal was invalid because it was offside, but the referee finally deemed the goal legal after discussing it with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
In replays, it can be seen that Casemiro’s through ball was indeed aimed at Rashford, who was offside, but the 25-year-old striker did not touch the ball. It was actually Fernandes who then came from behind and completed the opportunity to score a goal.
According to the laws of the game, the goal was approved by the referee because Rashford was considered not involved in the game. He was also considered not to interfere with the movements of Manuel Akanji and Kyle Walker, the two closest Man City players who were trying to catch the ball.
However, Akanji considered that Rashford was involved in the game because he kept chasing the ball until Fernandes arrived, so he was accused of trying to protect the ball from the pursuit of Man City players.
“To be honest, it’s ridiculous that the referee didn’t disallow the first goal. Rashford was clearly offside, so I consider him offside. He kept running until the last second and only stopped because Bruno came,” Akanji said, quoted by ESPN.
“I understand he didn’t touch the ball, but he ran about 30 meters, chased the ball and stopped. The referee didn’t see the situation.”
“The ref didn’t say anything to me, but I spoke to the linesman and he said, ‘Did Rashford touch the ball?’, I said, ‘No, but he’s been chasing the ball for a long time’.”
“In that situation, the referee at least saw the situation and understood the situation Kyle and I were in. Maybe because of the pressure on him at the stadium, he decided to ignore it,” said Akanji.
(adp/pur)
