Ex-refs chief is seriously unimpressed as Man United controversy re-analysed in light of Florian Wirtz development
PGMOL need to correctly enforce their five-centimetre tolerance rule after Samuel Chukwueze was deemed to be offside before Jorge Cuenca scored for Fulham against Man United.
That is according to former PGMOL chief and FIFA referee Keith Hackett, who has exclusively told Football Insider that he feels the goal should have been allowed to stand.
United ran out 3-2 winners over Fulham at Old Trafford on Sunday as Benjamin Sesko netted a late winner to maintain Michael Carrick‘s winning start to life as interim boss.
Casemiro and Matheus Cunha had given United a 2-0 lead just before the hour mark, but Fulham thought they had snatched a point in the final stages after strikes from Raul Jimenez and Kevin.
Sesko then popped up in the 94th minute to win it at the death, but Fulham felt aggrieved that they were not already ahead by that point after Cuenca‘s strike was disallowed.
Chukwueze was deemed to be offside before Cuenca scored
Fulham needed a lifeline when Cuenca stepped up to lash home from close range in the 65th minute and make it 2-1.
His goal came about after Raul Jimenez’s free kick deflected off the United wall into Chukwueze‘s path, before his shot found the feet of the Spaniard, but VAR quickly reviewed and ruled it out for offside.
Chukwueze was the Cottagers’ offending player, with the Premier League’s Match Centre confirming that a decision to chalk the goal off had been reached due to him being marginally offside before he inadvertently assisted.
Cuenca did get away with fouling Bryan Mbeumo in the first half, but he will have felt hard done by as his first-ever Premier League goal was disallowed for a mightily close call.
Hackett tells PGMOL to make five-centimetre ruling clearer after Fulham goal was wrongly disallowed
PGMOL’s five-centimetre tolerance rule means that, if two lines touch during a VAR review, the attacking player will be given onside regardless of the on-field decision.
The stipulation became a huge talking point last month as it allowed Florian Wirtz’s goal against Fulham to stand, despite him looking clearly offside during a VAR review.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider’s The Final Whistle show, Hackett called on the PGMOL to be more consistent in their decision-making when it comes to such tight calls.
He said: “In these tight decisions, they rely very much on the semi-automated offside system. I think it is that system that actually made the call.
“It’s come up and said that he is offside, but it is a close call. If we are going to have the technology, at some stage we have to accept that it’s there.
“But when the PGMOL come out, as they did a couple of weeks ago (after the Wirtz decision), and say that there is a five-centimetre tolerance within the decision, then that is where I think I’d like to see the law changed.
“For the benefit of any doubt, give the goal, rather than seeing it ruled out for such a tight margin.”