Arsene Wenger said both Manchester City goals were offside -- were they?
After Arsenal blew an early lead at Manchester City and fell to the Citizens, 2-1, Arsene Wenger was predictably upset. He blamed a lot of things, from fixture congestion to luck. But one of the things he hit hardest on was the refereeing. Specifically, he thought both of Man City's goals were offside.
"The two goals are offside goals, and a game of that stature I feel enough is enough for us because we've got some bad decisions for the whole season," Wenger told Sky Sports after the match.
So, was he right?
Let's take a look at the first goal, scored by Leroy Sane.
That's extremely close, but Sane is offside. Of course, that's with the aid of replay, being able to pause and television graphics, but however we were able to determine it, Sane is still offside. So Wenger was right on City's first goal.
On the second goal, Raheem Sterling scored after running onto a terrific ball from Kevin De Bruyne and who was offside here is a little more complicated.
https://twitter.com/NBCSportsSoccer/status/810540050769276928
Let's start with Sterling on the initial pass.
It sure looks like Sterling is onside there. It's hard to say for certain because the angle isn't ideal, but Laurent Koscielny has his heels right on the cut of the grass and Sterling appears at least a yard away from it. Based on this, Sterling looks to be onside.
But what about Silva on the Sterling shot? It's clear that Silva is offside, but is he passive or active? Basically, did he interfere with the goalkeeper?
Good luck trying to figure that one out because exactly what constitutes being involved in the play and interfering with the goalkeeper is very hazy.
Petr Cech did say that he was interfered with after the match, though.
"For the second goal I didn't see the shot and there were people running across - I don't know if it was David Silva or not," Cech said." I didn't see the ball because there was someone in front."
So Cech isn't straight up saying that Silva was offside or that it shouldn't have counted, but it's possible.
Wenger wasn't quite right saying that both of City's goals were offside. One was, but the other could go either way.
If the assistant referee had gotten the offside call right on the first goal, Arsenal would have at least walked away from the match with a draw. And the second is up for debate. Of course, we're picking at two plays when lots of other things could have gone another way so that's an oversimplification, but Wenger would have been much happier with at least a point and clearly feels aggrieved that he didn't get all three.
