Leeds United defeated Bristol City 2-1 on Saturday, but Georginio Rutter thought he had put the home side ahead when he tapped in from close range, only for the offside flag to be raised.
One advantage of the Whites being back in the Championship is that goals may be celebrated in the moment without worry of someone at Stockley Park seeing a stray hair is in an offside position.
Leeds won a difficult encounter at home against Bristol City, but the outcome could have been different if Georginio Rutter’s second-half goal had remained.
Was Rutter offside?
After Joel Piroe put Leeds back in front with a low drive from outside the box, they pressed for a third to seal the victory, and for a brief time, it appeared that they had done so when Georginio Rutter nudged in a third.
A shot from Sam Byram was deflected into the path of Rutter by Robins stopper Max O’Leary, who diverted the ball into the far corner and wheeled away in celebration, only to have the flag raised behind him as he turned his head.
Chris Foy, a Sky Sports pundit and former Premier League referee, has just revealed why Rutter’s goal was disallowed:
“Making a decision in a crowded penalty area is always challenging for the officials. When the ball is volleyed towards goal by Sam Byram (25) the eventual goal scorer, Georginio (24) is stood just beyond the second-last opponent – so in an offside position. Although he doesn’t touch Byram’s initial shot, he makes a clear attempt to play the ball, and clearly impacts the ability of Bristol City’s goalkeeper to play the ball, who delays his save and spills Byram’s effort, before Georginio taps the loose ball into the net.
“There are two offside offences here, the first is Georginio’s initial action that clearly impacts the Bristol City goalkeeper’s attempt to make the save, and the second is that following a save he gains an advantage for the resultant tap-in by initially being in an offside position. This is a good call by the officials.”
It’s definitely offside, but the argument here is that Rutter would have been judged offside even if Byram’s strike had gone in.
Rutter tries to play the ball, but it does not compel O’Leary to correct himself or delay his save because he is shifting across to block the ball just as Byram connects.
He merely fumbles the ball, and Rutter should not be penalised for the ‘keeper’s error.
Rutter then touched in from an offside position, so that wasn’t really an issue.ague referee Chris Foy has finally revealed why this decision to deny Rutter’s goal was made:
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