In the 78th minute of Manchester City’s Premier League encounter against Aston Villa, Pep Guardiola’s side scored a questionable yet all-important goal that broke the deadlock.
Emiliano Martinez cleared the ball from the back, with City winning the header, but it ending up with Villa and England ace Tyrone Mings.
Mings chested and attempted to take a touch on the ball before he was pressured and lost out to Rodri – who came from a position that was well offside.
The defensive midfielder then showed some tidy control before slotting it over to Bernardo Silva, the Portuguese playmaker beat his man, before creating space and tucking the ball into the net.
This broke the deadlock in what was a closely-contested tie that City went on to win 2-0 thanks to a last-minute penalty as well.
Ex-referee Peter Walton, who offers insight into decision for BT Sport, felt that this should’ve been deemed offside.
Finally, we have a breakthrough!
Some great chances for both sides this evening, but Bernardo Silva is the one who breaks the deadlock! ?
A great finish ? pic.twitter.com/woSfCjKTok
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 20, 2021
Pictures from BT Sport and Canal+.
Here’s some reaction to the moment:
Was Rodri interfering with play from an offside position in the build-up to Bernardo Silva’s breakthrough goal for Man City?
Peter Walton thinks so… ? pic.twitter.com/M84e9J3KS1
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 20, 2021
Tyrone Mings isn’t to blame for that in my opinion, Rodri has interfered with the ball from an offside position. We’ve been robbed.
— Ty Bracey (@TyBracey) January 20, 2021
How has that City goal been allowed to stand? Rodri is clearly offside and it’s not even close.
— Joel Rabinowitz (@joel_archie) January 20, 2021
Didn’t even notice Rodri was offside till that replay lol, how haven’t they disallowed that??
— Tom (@utdcynical) January 20, 2021
Bit strange that. Rodri well offside and puts Mings off which forces the error
— Dinesh Kumar (@DHardayal) January 20, 2021
Can some please explain to me how Rodri wasn’t given as offside during the build up to Bernardos goal?
He came back from an offside position when the ball was played and interferes with play?
Genuine question…
— WHF!?? (@mufcwesleyy) January 20, 2021
The brilliant Dale Johnson of ESPN has explained it in full for those unsure:
Tyrone Mings chesting the ball was judged by the officials and the VAR a deliberate act to play the ball and that reset the offside phase, bringing Rodri onside.
Can’t agree, and surely has to be offside in this circumstance.
— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) January 20, 2021
Whilst Mings’ chest was certainly a solid attempt to play the ball when considered independently – the defender was massively pressured by Rodri, so perhaps offside should’ve been enforced here.
Whilst the ruling of the goal is sketchy, one thing’s for certain – Dean Smith will be feeling incredibly hard done by after this.
Robbed again…. When is VAR going to give us a break. Is it just me or do the so called BIG teams always seem to get these decisions, and have done for years….