Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji said it was clear that striker Marcus Rashford was involved in the game before Manchester United scored the equalizer in their Premier League match last night.
City defenders followed Rashford’s move while he was offside, as he chased the ball for 30 meters before Bruno Fernandes intervened at the last second to score the goal.
The assistant referee raised his flag for offside, but referee Stuart Atwell awarded the goal to allow United to return to the match and win 2-1.
“Fernandez told him he was not offside and could shoot. Then (Rashford) stopped and that was a clear interference for me,” Akanji told Viaplay.
And he continued, “I understand that he did not touch the ball. But what I always thought was that the rule is that if you chase the ball and your goal is to play it, you are involved in the play … It is clear that it was offside, but the referee decided that it was not.”
For his part, Manchester United defender Luke Shaw told Sky Sports that the City defender, covering Rashford, was unable to reach the ball.
He added, “Rashford obviously managed to run, but I see that the player he was with was not able to catch the ball anyway. I don’t think he really intervened at all.”
And he added, “I think Rashford was smart in knowing that Bruno was there and left the ball to him. For me it was a correct goal.”
For his part, the former head of the Referees Committee in England, Keith Hackett, said there was “no doubt” that Rashford was interfering with his opponent.
“To allow Bruno Fernandes’ goal to be counted is complete nonsense,” he wrote in The Telegraph. “If we don’t consider it offside, then the offside rule is wrong.
And he added, “They will argue that he (Rashford) must touch the ball to be involved. The law is terrible and needs to be completely rewritten.”
