Everton’s pulsating 3-3 draw with Manchester City was full of drama – late goals, a defensive calamity and, of course, a bit of video assistant referee (VAR) controversy.
Barry’s Controversial Goal
At the top of the list was Thierno Barry’s first goal, with the Everton striker benefiting from being in an offside position thanks to a bizarre “assist” from City’s Marc Guehi. The assistant initially raised his flag for offside against Thierno Barry before referee Michael Oliver deemed the goal should be allowed to stand.
Barry was waiting on the shoulder of Guehi, weighing up when to make his move as Merlin Rohl played a through ball. It was not a good pass by the German midfielder, straight to the feet of the Manchester City defender.
While Barry had started to move towards Guehi, he was not placing the opponent under pressure. Inexplicably, Guehi under hit a back pass which Barry latched on to to score.
The Offside Law Explained
The law asks a few key questions: Did Barry do anything which could have caused Guehi to rush, or to influence his poor pass?
Barry did move towards the ball, but did that really impact Guehi? And did Guehi have full expectation of a controlled outcome from playing the ball?
“Barry is in an offside position when the ball is played but it’s down to Guehi,” former Manchester City and Everton defender Andy Hinchcliffe said on Sky Sports. “He is in control of his actions, so suddenly the attacker goes from offside to onside. That is why the goal rightly stands. That is disastrous from Guehi.”
Without these subjective judgements, you would have to penalise every player just for being in an offside position – even if they were not close to the opponent.
Penalty Shout and Potential Red Card
Toffees boss David Moyes said he was “amazed” his side were not given a penalty when Bernardo Silva dragged down Merlin Rohl in the final five minutes.
And then there was the potential red card for Everton defender Michael Keane, flying into a challenge on Jeremy Doku.
Paul Howard, the VAR, stayed out of all three decisions and left them with the on-field call of referee Michael Oliver.
Echoes of Past Controversies
Guehi’s mishap is among the most obvious examples of a pure defensive howler, and clearly should cancel any offside.
But we’ve seen far more controversial ones, such as Bruno Fernandes’ goal in the Manchester derby three years ago.
Marcus Rashford, from an offside position, ran after the ball but did not touch it and Fernandes came in from behind to score. Everton have prior experience, too.
In April last year, Liverpool’s Luis Diaz was standing offside behind James Tarkowski as the centre-back attempted to intercept a loose ball. It resulted in Diogo Jota scoring the winning goal for Arne Slot’s team.
Some take issue with this rule because, as in those two cases, it can inadvertently disadvantage defenders.
Doku scores late to salvage draw in six-goal thriller.