Ex-PGMOL chief destroys ‘ludicrous’ controversy as Man City goal ruled out vs Newcastle United
Chris Kavanagh and Stuart Attwell made a “ludicrous” decision to rule out Antoine Semenyo’s second goal against Newcastle United.
That is according to former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee, Keith Hackett, who exclusively told Football Insider that Semenyo deserved to have his brace stand at St James’ Park on Tuesday, 13 January.
Kavanagh could have even sent off Nico O’Reilly in the first half, but appeared desperate to keep his cards in his pocket, infuriating both sets of supporters in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg.
Pep Guardiola‘s side should have gone two goals ahead away from home, but after a four-minute VAR check, the referee was advised to visit the pitch-side monitor, with Erling Haaland in an offside position.
There was no doubt that Haaland was in an offside position, but with no chance that the striker interfered, the officials have been absolutely slammed for ruling the goal out on this occasion.
Keith Hackett in disbelief over Man City’s offside goal
With the decision taking over four minutes to be confirmed, many have questioned what happened to “clear and obvious,” and Hackett has also been left stunned by the decision.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former referee 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.”
Stuart Attwell accused of ‘passing the buck’ to Chris Kavanagh
While it was Kavanagh, in the end, who made the decision to rule out the goal, Hackett has been sure to point one finger of blame at the official in the VAR room.
He said, “Attwell took four minutes to pass the buck to Kavanagh. Kavanagh hardly interrogated the incident and jumped to the easy option of ruling a good goal out.”
Both are certainly to blame for the situation, and if anything, it is a good advert for the use of VAR to be outlawed in English football, especially after a weekend of FA Cup football.
The FA Cup third round didn’t use VAR, with Premier League referees accused of being found out, but officials have gone back to depending on the technology to make decisions for them.