Late Patrick Bamford call in Leeds United draw at Rotherham United stuns Sky Sports pundit as Jaidon Anthony winner ruled out – ‘Good grief’
The decision to disallow Jaidon Anthony’s late Leeds United winner at Rotherham for an offside against Patrick Bamford stunned Don Goodman.
The Sky Sports pundit reacted live on the match coverage for the broadcaster on 24 November, exclaiming “good grief” as he saw a replay of the move that showed the call was “very, very close”, but with no VAR in the Championship the assistant’s flag was final.
On-loan winger Anthony thought he’d secured the points in the 90th minute as he poked home Willy Gnonto’s centre but striker Bamford was penalised for getting a slight touch on the way through, having been adjudged to be beyond the last defender on the six-yard line.
Goodman said (9.49pm): “Is this offside? It didn’t look obvious to me but… oof, good grief, that is very, very tight. Very, very tight. Flag went up pretty quickly.”
Fine margins
Against a side without a permanent manager that is currently struggling at the wrong end of the table Leeds United should have ensured they weren’t in position for such a call to be the difference in the end, but that’s what it came down to.
Crysencio Summerville’s early opener was a rare flash of the quality this side has exhibited throughout the season, but Daniel Farke’s side failed to make the most of their first-half dominance and allowed Hakeem Odoffin to snatch an equaliser just before half time.
The Whites struggled to break down the hosts after the break, but could have had a penalty for a studs-up challenge on Dan James, reminiscent of Christian Romero’s dismissal for Tottenham against Chelsea on 6 November, which was missed by the referee.
Anthony hasn’t had a huge impact for some weeks given the excellent form of Summerville and James, but looked like he had dug it out at the end, so a debatable flag going against him was a major disappointment.
Bamford has also been desperate to make a telling contribution of his own from reduced opportunities this season, so being the one called for offside won’t have been what he had in mind.
It is true that Leeds United were arguably unfortunate with the officiating late on but equally the case that they should have made the game safe a long time earlier.
And Farke will be equally frustrated by both after dropping two key points as he looks to challenge Leicester and Ipswich at the top.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay reports a player has “no intention” of accepting a contact offer from the club.