Ex-Premier League referee: Man United victims of major injustice as controversial Danny Welbeck footage analysed
Brighton & Hove Albion’s opening goal in their 2-1 win over Man United on Sunday (8 August) should have been disallowed, according to Keith Hackett.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Fifa and Premier League referee insisted Danny Welbeck was in an offside position when he received the ball before providing the assist for Pascal Gross.
Welbeck was played in behind the United defence by Leandro Trossard before playing the ball across the six-yard box and Gross tapped it in.
The assistant referee did not raise his flag and VAR official John Brooks checked the replay but decided not to intervene and the goal stood.
“This is where I want the VAR to operate until we get the semi-automated system,” Hackett said after analysing the footage with Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.
“I think that the benefit of the doubt has been given to the forward in this situation. They will say ‘No, this is within the law, if you are level then you are offside’.
“On that clip, you’re hard pressed to say the Brighton player is not in an offside position. They’ve made a judgement from the feet and not the upper body that you can score with.
“In law, that should have been pulled for offside.”
Welbeck, 31, put in a fine display against his old club at Old Trafford and had a strong shout for a penalty after a challenge by Lisandro Martinez turned down.
He moved to Brighton in October 2020 and has less than 12 months left on his current contract.
In other news, Kieran Maguire has claimed Man United have banked a “seven-figure” windfall amid news from California.