Vassell was in an offside position when a Man City player crossed the ball, there's no doubt about it. In a crowded penalty area, the ball did not go directly to him, but landed about 2 metres away and bounced to him off - I believe - the shin of Petrov. Vassell poked the ball home.
Should the assistant have flagged? This is a very difficult one and tests the law of offside to the limit. I believe, however that the assistant got it right. When the ball bounced off Petrov's leg, Vassell was no longer in an offside position.
Vassell could have been penalised under two parts of Law 11 - Offside.
Interfering with play means playing the ball passed or touched by a team-mate. Well Vassell did not play the first ball, no matter how much Gray complains about him being near the ball. He was a couple of yards away and thus not interfering.
Or Vassell could have been picked up under this aspect of the Law, that he was gaining an advantage by playing a ball that rebounds to him off an opponent having been in an offside position.
So if, as I believe the ball came to Vassell from Petrov, the ball is not coming from an opponent and the assistant has made a stunningly good call. If it came to Vassell from a West Ham player, then he should have been penalised.
Now I'm a Level 6 ref in the Maidstone League. I would have though the likes of Gray, Curbishley, Bilic et al might know these facts already. They're paid to know them.
1 comment:
Sure clips of incidents like this will be used when all the select group get together at a meeting. Would like to be a fly on the wall to hear what they think.
Post a Comment