What the rules say should have happened after Dan Burn was pushed into offside position for disallowed goal against Man City
Newcastle United were extremely unlucky not to get something for their efforts against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium tonight, falling to a 2-1 defeat after a spirited display.
In truth, Newcastle didn't offer enough of an attacking threat overall, but when they did, they took their chances via Lewis Hall and Dan Burn, but the latter's goal was controversially ruled out for offside.
Sandro Tonali floated in an inch-perfect free-kick, which was met by the head of Big Dan Burn, who nodded it beyond Gianluigi Donnarumma, but before Burn's celebrations got too emphatic, the linesman's flag was up on the far side.
Nobody is questioning that Dan Burn was offside when the free-kick was struck; that was clear. However, he wouldn't have been had Ruben Dias not blatantly pushed him beyond the City defensive line and into an offside position.
Dan Burn's goal should have stood, or Newcastle should have been awarded a penalty, according to IFAB
You could argue all day about whether Burn would then have met the cross or not, but looking at the rules of the game, Newcastle United should have been awarded a penalty.
Under Law 11 (Offside) and Law 12 (Fouls and Misconduct) of the International Football Association Board, a player cannot be penalised for offside if they were pushed there by an opponent.
How referees handle it
If a defender pushes or holds an attacker, causing them to move into an offside position, the referee should:
1. Penalise the push/hold (a foul under Law 12), and
2. Restart with a direct free kick (or a penalty kick if it occurred inside the defender’s penalty area).
The offside offence would not be given because:
• Offside position is judged at the moment a teammate plays the ball.
• If the attacker’s position resulted from a foul, the foul takes priority.
For those who think the fact that the push happened before the free-kick was taken makes a difference...
The argument about whether the ball was in play or not doesn't count either.
• Foul/Penalty Awarded (No Offside): If the defender pushes the attacker into an offside position before the ball is played, and that push is considered a foul (careless, reckless, or using excessive force), the foul is penalised because it occurred before any potential offside offence.
If this happens inside the penalty area, the referee should award a penalty kick.
Newcastle have every right to feel aggrieved by this decision, or lack thereof, but it was such a strange circumstance, we're not surprised it was missed. Compared to the decisions we saw against Aston Villa last week, we'll let this one slide.
However, we will say that Bernardo Silva was lucky to be on the pitch after picking up a booking and then throwing himself into Dan Burn moments later. We're sure that had he not just been booked, that would have given him a yellow card, so why didn't the referee have the stones to issue the second?
