‘Make it make sense’ - fans want answers after Everton goal cruelly ruled out
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Leeds United and Everton drew 1-1 at Elland Road on Tuesday night, but a dubious looking offside call left Toffees fans on social media wanting more from the game.
With the Premier League tie level heading into the final stages, Everton winger Demarai Gray raced through on the Leeds goal, before calmly slotting the ball beyond Illan Meslier.
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However, the linesman's flag predictably went up, which led to the dreaded straight lines being drawn by the VAR official.
From the position of the Sky Sports cameras, it clearly looked like the 26-year-old had managed to keep himself onside, but to the surprise - and horror - of the watching Everton fans, his goal was promptly chalked off.
As you might imagine, the backlash on Twitter soon ensued.
someone make it make sense? pic.twitter.com/rTuc0sMabL
— Harry (@Owens_EFC) August 30, 2022
One disgruntled Evertonian Tweeted out a picture of the VAR line on the pitch, next to a picture of Marcus Rashford's onside run against Liverpool. From the camera angles provided, it very much looks like Gray is onside, while Rashford isn't, leading the fan to caption his Tweet with: "Someone make it make sense sense?"
Thankfully, plenty of people obliged in his Twitter replies.
So, in the image at left the attacking player was adjudged to be goal-side of the defender, the making him onside. In the image at right, the defender was adjudged to be closer to the goal or level with the attacker, who was thus judged to be onside. It specifies at the bottom!
— Mari Lewis (@MariCLewis) August 30, 2022
One user replied with: "In the image at right, the defender was adjudged to be closer to the goal or level with the attacker, who was thus judged to be onside. It specifies at the bottom!". Another added: "Its so funny people dont understand angles. VAR doesn't use this angle when viewing and drawing lines."
However, a third person then understandably asked why viewers didn't get to see the angle that VAR uses to help clear up any confusion. It does make you wonder sometimes.
I said at the time from where I was sat that he’s onside. It’s ridiculous. I’m clearly happy they messed up but it’s so wrong. If it’s that close then it’s onside
— gareth senior 🏆 (@SeniorGareth) August 31, 2022
Its so funny people dont understand angles. VAR doesnt use this angle when viewing and drawing lines 😭
— WazzaBall (@fergiesperch) August 30, 2022
The Everton fan who originally Tweeted out the side-by-side pictures did get plenty of support though, as his post garnered over 7k likes at the time of writing.
It also left plenty of fans irate about the current offside rules, as the shoulder and upper arm are both factored in under the current law.
"All this elbow and shoulder s**** its b******, it should go on where your feet are not how far you're leaning forward", one frustrated user concluded.
In the immediate aftermath, Leeds United manager Jesse Marsh even admitted that his side were "lucky" to have been on the right side of the controversial offside call.
He told BT Sport: "I just saw the offside goal, it was so close and really lucky that it didn't count."
As for the game itself, it was Everton who stole an early lead thanks to wantaway forward Anthony Gordon, before Leeds new-boy Luis Sinisterra grabbed a second half equaliser to earn the hosts a deserved point.
Do you think the offside rule needs tweaking? Let us know your thoughts.
Featured Image Credit: Premier League/Twitter
Topics: Everton, Leeds United, Premier League
