04 November 2023 , 13:52
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Officials were correct to rule out Scott McTominay’s ‘goal’ against Fulham, despite protests from Manchester United.
The Red Devils headed to Craven Cottage in desperate need of a positive result, after back-to-back thumpings in front of their own fans. In the aftermath of the 3-0 loss to Newcastle in midweek, questions were raised about the future of manager Erik ten Hag.
United remain adamant that the Dutchman retains the club’s full support, but there was an acknowledgement that results would need to improve quickly. Ten Hag duly told his players that now was the time for his players to begin to turn their season around.
And they thought they had got off to the perfect start in the capital, when McTominay turned the ball home after just eight minutes. The goal came after Alejandro Garnacho put the ball back across goal following a free-kick.
The Argentine, and McTominay, were both onside, but after a VAR check which took more than four minutes, the goal was ultimately ruled out. That was for what was described as a “subjective offside decision”, with Harry Maguire deemed to have been interfering in play from an offside position.
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The England international failed to make contact with the ball, but was determined to have interfered with Fulham’s Rodrigo Muniz, stopping him getting to the ball. Ten Hag was furious on the touchline, but the wording of the offside law suggests the correct call was made.
According to IFAB’s latest laws of the game, a player can be penalised if they are in an offside position and become active in the phase by doing the following:
preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision
or challenging an opponent for the ball or clearly attempting to play a ball which is close when this action impacts on an opponent
or making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball
Harry Maguire was adjudged to have interfered with the play, despite not touching the ballAnd replays clearly showed that without Maguire’s presence, Muniz would have had a significantly better chance of intercepting the cross before it reached Garnacho.
BT Sport pundit and United legend Rio Ferdinand had no grievances with the decision, but was unhappy with the process to reach it. He said: “The on-field decision is just them [VAR] passing the buck, isn’t it?
“That’s what it is really, just make a decision. In the end, it’s the right decision and Harry Maguire does influence the defender’s decision, his position as well maybe so I think it was the correct decision in the end.”