Sports
Keith Hackett Gives Verdict on Man City’s Disallowed Goal vs Newcastle
Former PGMOL chief and FIFA referee Keith Hackett has given his thoughts on the decision to disallow Antoine Semenyo’s goal for Manchester City against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup.
Although neither team could break the deadlock in the first half, Pep Guardiola’s side took the lead when their new signing poked the ball home from close range in the 53rd minute. But Semenyo thought he had grabbed his and City’s second just minutes later when he backheeled a corner past Nick Pope.
After a goal was initially given by Chris Kavanagh, VAR official Stuart Attwell checked the incident for a potential offside call against Erling Haaland. While he was stood in an offside position next to Malick Thiaw, the Norwegian striker didn’t appear to interfere with play. Nevertheless, the strike was ultimately chalked off for a “subjective offside” after a lengthy break in play.
Eddie Howe Must Drop Newcastle ‘Waste of Money’ After ‘Shocking’ Man City Display
Eddie Howe needs to drop one Newcastle player after his poor performance against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup.
Ex-Referee Slams Decision to Disallow Semenyo’s Goal
The goal didn’t ultimately matter too much in the end, as Rayan Cherki eventually grabbed a second for City to put them in a great spot ahead of the second leg. But the visitors could have had an even more comfortable advantage had Semenyo’s second been allowed to stand.
And in the eyes of former FIFA referee Hackett, the decision to rule out the goal wasn’t the correct one. Speaking to Football Insider, the ex-PGMOL chief said that Haaland had not interfered with the goalkeeper in the build-up to the goal.
He said: “Being in an offside position, in itself, is not an offence. Haaland, judged to be in an offside position, does not interfere with his opponent.
“And certainly hasn’t interfered with the goalkeeper – he’s behind him. I think this is a ludicrous decision. The goal should have stood.
“And for the semi-automated offside technology, it appears to be letting our referees down because Stuart Attwell took an age to advise Kavanagh. What a poor decision to rule out this goal.”
Micah Richards Criticises Decision to Disallow Semenyo’s Goal
The assessment made by rules expert Dale Johnson arrived at a different conclusion to Hackett’s, although he criticised the length of time taken to disallow the goal. But there’s still been plenty of confusion over the clear and obvious nature of the offence.
Micah Richards, reacting to the incident as a pundit for Sky Sports, added that while he could understand why the goal had been disallowed from a technical standpoint, he didn’t agree with VAR “re-refereeing” the incident. He said: “I understand the process but VAR wasn’t brought in for this.
“This was anti-goal, which they said they weren’t going to do. They said they were not going to re-referee games. This was re-refereeing the game.
“If you look at Thiaw and Haaland, they both have hold of each other. They are both going at it. While the decision may be technically right, I don’t think goals should be being ruled out for this.”
