Manchester United deserved to beat rivals Manchester City last weekend, but Bruno Fernandes’ equaliser should not have stood.
That is the view of former Aston Villa and Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore, who believes the Old Trafford officials got the game’s biggest decision wrong.
Substitute Jack Grealish opened the Manchester derby’s scoring but the Red Devils, thanks to goals from Fernandes and in-form hitman Marcus Rashford, managed to complete a sensational turnaround.
However, even though United were arguably the game’s better team, Fernandes’ important equaliser, which saw Rashford in a clear offside position during the play’s build-up, has gone down as a hugely controversial goal.
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Deemed onside due to Rashford’s failure to touch the ball, Fernandes’ second-half strike was allowed to stand, but Collymore disagrees with the decision.
“If a player is offside, they’re offside and if they’re offside then they’re always interfering with play because opposition players adjust themselves and their eye line to that player,” the ex-Red said in an exclusive interview.
“If that player weren’t in that position, nor would the opposition players. It really is as simple as that.
“Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t an anti-Man United take. I thought their performance against Man City on the weekend was absolutely excellent and they arguably deserved to win the game, but Bruno Fernandes’ goal should not have stood.
“In a way, it’s kind of ridiculous that we’re at the stage now where there are so many rules and laws that are supposed to give clarity written by people who don’t have a clue about what it’s like to actually play the game. These rules, especially the offside rule, need to be written from a playing reality, not a theory dreamed up in an office.”