‘There is no doubt…’ – Ref icon has a clear stance on Man U’s controversial goal vs Man City

Referee icon Keith Hackett was left shocked by Bruno Fernandes’ controversial goal in the 2-1 defeat against Manchester United and suggest the goal stood because it was at Old Trafford.

the fact that Manchester United’s opening goal against Manchester City was allowed to stand.

Man United were trailing to a Jack Grealish goal at Old Trafford but managed to pull level through Bruno Fernandes in the 78th minute before Marcus Rashford got the winner four minutes later.

However, United’s equaliser was shrouded in controversy amidst claims that Rashford, who was offside, was interfering with play in the build-up to Fernandes’ goal.

Hackett, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest referees in football history, working as a FIFA match official between 1981 and 1991 as well as overseeing FA Cup and League Cup finals, was left shocked by the decision to let the goal stands.

Hackett is quite the authority when it comes to refereeing, and he certainly didn’t pull any punches when he gave his opinion on Fernandes’ goal in his column for The Telegraph.

“There is no doubt: Marcus Rashford is offside,” the refereeing legend penned. “He has impacted on play and he is interfering with an opponent.

“So to allow Bruno Fernandes’s goal to stand is a total nonsense. If we do not call that offside, then the offside law is an a**.

“There will be a huge debate now, but it is obvious to me. Rashford’s actions impacted on the Manchester City defenders. It is as clear as that.

“The authorities will put up a defence for referee Stuart Attwell and argue that Rashford did not interfere with play, but it is rubbish. This is a decision you cannot justify.

“They will argue that he has to touch the ball to be active. The law is awful and requires a complete rewrite.

“In the laws, a player is active if he is ‘clearly attempting to play a ball which is close when this action impacts on an opponent’ – just like Rashford did.”

Hackett later mused: “Was it an Old Trafford decision? Perhaps.

“I always enjoyed my matches there – the top referees, when they appear at big games, their adrenalin kicks in and it goes to another level. I had the pleasure of taking charge of Manchester derbies. It is a marvellous experience.”

Pep Guardiola had suggested that Bruno Fernandes’ controversial goal would not have stood had it not been scored at Old Trafford.

“The situation and the decision is the referee’s, the VAR, our defenders make a line [for Rashford], if we know it’s Fernandes we don’t make the line, we follow the action, and after the action the interference for [Ederson].

“This is the decision in this stadium with the referee and the VAR. Here he said not intervene in this stadium. What are we to do? Are we going to make a complaint? No. It sometimes happens on our side.

“The decision is they didn’t believe Rashford was intervening in this stadium. This is Old Trafford, we have to play much better, like Anfield, we have to do better.”

What does the law say?

The official Ifab law book for 2022-23 (rule 11.2) says a player in an offside position at the moment the ball is played or touched by a team-mate is only penalised on becoming involved in active play by interfering with play by playing or touching a ball passed or touched by a team-mate or interfering with an opponent.