The football community is outraged by the victory of Manchester United in the derby over City.
City took the lead in the 60th minute when Jack Grealish came off the bench and put them ahead, but United did their best to win back.
Bruno Fernandez, United’s equaliser, was initially ruled out for offside against Marcus Rashford, but VAR overturned the decision on the pitch.
Two minutes later, Rashford scored the winning goal, and after the final whistle, the City players surrounded the referee in protest against the equalizer.
In the BT studio, Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes repeated the rules, justifying why the goal is worth it.
However, the drama did not end there, as the players continued to moan in their post-match interviews along with Pep Guardiola, who said: “We know who we are playing, we know where we are playing.”
In the Final Score studio, Martin Keown and Rachel Brown-Finnis agreed with Guardiola, saying: “I think he’s right… it certainly affected the goalkeeper, Ederson comes out to deal with the onrushing Rashford and he leaves it to Fernandes. VAR didn’t look at the goalkeeper.”
After the match, City defender Akanji was indignant: “To be honest, the first goal is a joke, it is allowed in this form. I saw Rashford, he was obviously offside, so I put him offside. He runs until the last second and stops when the ball is in front of him and he’s right in front of Eddie, ready to score a goal because Bruno Fernandes is shouting at him.”
Rashford defended himself and the goal after the match, saying: “I thought I went a little earlier, so I didn’t run. If I had run after the ball, I would have just taken it, or punched it, or passed it. I thought I was out of the game, so I didn’t touch the ball. That’s all I can do in this situation, and then it’s up to the referee and the linesman. In my opinion, I did not participate in the play. I felt he had to stand.”
Ten Hag admitted that if this decision had been made and he had been on the losing side, he would not have been happy: “I saw from the other side that it confused the back line, it was clear. This is also a rule. I wouldn’t be happy if my team also conceded such a goal. I see the disappointment of the other side, but I also see that the referee has coped.”
The rest of the football community expressed their opinion, and Petr Cech tweeted: “United’s first goal just proved that the people who set the rules don’t understand the game.”
The first United goal just proved the people who make the rules don’t understand the game.
— Petr Cech (@PetrCech) January 14, 2023
Despite the hype, Manchester United won’t be worried as they scored all three points and got the right to show off in front of their neighbors.
