After a 2-1 victory over Man City on the evening of January 16, Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes laughed when asked about the controversial goal against Man City.
When the match ended, Rashford and Bruno participated in an interview with BT Sports on the field. They were asked about the situation that led to MU’s 1-1 equalizer.
The duo burst into laughter before defending their goal. Bruno said: “I’m facing goal, Marcus probably saw me in a better position. I don’t know if either of us was offside but he didn’t have any effect. to the defenders. That’s how it is.”
After Casemiro’s pass, Rashford chased the ball but he failed to finish as he was offside. Bruno was the last to touch the ball. The line umpire waved the flag for offside, but after consulting the VAR, referee Stuart Atwell recognized the goal.
This situation has sparked controversy. Petr Cech, former Chelsea goalkeeper said: “MU’s equalizer proves that the people who make the rules of football don’t understand anything about this sport.”
Coach Pep Guardiola also thinks Bruno’s goal does not deserve recognition. “Marcus Rashford was offside and distracted our defenders and goalkeepers,” the Man City captain said in his post-match press conference.
Meanwhile, former referee Peter Walton, who has 169 matches in charge of the Premier League, asserted: “The law has been amended to assess whether Rashford was involved in the ball in that situation or prevented the opponent from playing. ball or not. And according to the law, Rashford did nothing wrong. It was a really good ball from this player.”
Previously, FIFA rules stated that the referee would blow offside for any situation where a player was under the ball. However, the new FIFA amendment determines that a player is not offside if he is not involved in the situation. Determining whether Rashford was involved in the situation or not was the key to this controversial goal.
