Marcus Rashford was clearly offside but not the scorer Bruno Fernandes when he equalized in the Manchester derby where United eventually claimed a 2-1 victory over City in the English Premier League at Old Trafford Saturday.
The involvement of Rashford after Casemiro released the final pass brought controversy whether the goal should have been allowed after Video Assistant Referee check.
Initially, the linesman waved the flag for offside but amid protests from United camp, the referee decided to go for a fresh judgment.
The final verdict brought fury among City fans and social media was also buzzing with criticism.
What did the law say?
According to The Athletic, the offside rule has recently been altered as it says a player is now judged to be offside if they either touch the ball after being in an offside position, or their involvement stops an opposition player from playing the ball.
It also stated that according to the International Football Association Board Laws of the Game for 2022-23, a player in an offside position can also be penalized for 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 that clearly limits the ability of an opponent to play the ball.
What happened?
When Casemiro forwarded the through pass Rashford was in offside position with two defenders on his two sides while Fernandes was running behind him from some distance.
Casemiro passes the ball forward BT Sport Rashford didn't receive the ball but let it go for Fernandes to shoot past City goalkeeper Ederson from just outside the box.
What did the expert say?
Former Premier League referee Peter Walton explained this while speaking on BT Sport.
"The law was amended to actually counter that argument of whether he touches the ball or does he interfere with an opponent playing the ball," Walton said.
"He (Rashford) does neither, so as the law stands, he hasn't done anything wrong. It's actually very good play from Rashford himself.
“The flag goes up because of the offside position (of Rashford) but when VAR look at this and when the assistant discusses this with Stuart Atwell, I think this is a goal.”