Chris Foy speaks out on Georginio Rutter disallowed goal in Leeds United win v Bristol City
Former Premier League referee Chris Foy has explained the reasoning behind a Leeds United disallowed goal against Bristol City.
The Whites had a goal from attacker Georginio Rutter ruled out in their clash with the Robins on Saturday (7 October).
Leeds won the Championship meeting at Elland Road 2-1, with Daniel James and Joel Piroe on the scoresheet for the hosts.
“Making a decision in a crowded penalty area is always challenging for the officials,” said Foy, as quoted by Sky Sports. “When the ball is volleyed towards goal by Sam Byram, the eventual goal scorer, Rutter is stood just beyond the second-last opponent – so in an offside position.
“Although he doesn’t touch Byram’s initial shot, he makes a clear attempt to play the ball, and clearly impacts the ability of Bristol City’s goalkeeper to play the ball, who delays his save and spills Byram’s effort, before Rutter taps the loose ball into the net.
“There are two offside offences here, the first is Rutter’s initial action that clearly impacts the Bristol City goalkeeper’s attempt to make the save, and the second is that following a save he gains an advantage for the resultant tap-in by initially being in an offside position. This is a good call by the officials.”
Right decision
The officials in English football have come under plenty of scrutiny this season, particularly in recent weeks and particularly in the Premier League.
But there is no shortage of controversial decisions in the Championship too, but it seems that the right decision was made at Elland Road on Saturday.
Rutter will have been gutted not to have extended his Whites scoring tally with the goal, but he can have very few complaints about this one being ruled out.
Not all decisions are easy for the officials, but clubs and players are just wanting consistency across the board, an issue that has plagued English football for too long now.
At the end of the day, the disallowed goal had no impact on the game, much to the relief of the majority of fans inside Elland Road and Whites boss Daniel Farke.
The important victory saw Farke’s men climb to fifth place in the Championship table heading into the international break.
In other Leeds United news, a Whites player has reacted to Eden Hazard’s retirement announcement with a small tribute.