The decision to allow Diogo Jota’s ‘controversial’ goal against Everton earlier this month has now been explained by Howard Webb.
The former Premier League referee was joined by ex-Liverpool striker Michael Owen on the latest edition of Sky Sports’ Match Officials Mic’d Up.
Arne Slot’s side defeated the Toffees 1-0 on April 2 but many questioned the legitimacy of Jota’s strike just before the hour mark due to the role played by Luis Diaz in the build-up.
Ryan Gravenberch played the ball towards the Colombian, only for the Dutchman’s attempted pass to be cut out by Everton’s James Tarkowski.
Diaz was in an offside position when the ball was played towards him, but made no attempt to play the ball, and was therefore not penalised.
The offside law states that once Tarkowski then touched the ball with his interception, a new phase of play started which allowed our No. 7 to become active without fear of being deemed offside.
The former Porto winger actually registered an assist for Jota’s superb finish once he became active.
We can certainly understand why there were questions raised, with Gary Neville saying Diaz was ‘definitely offside’, but Webb has now explained the situation and cleared up all confusion.
It’s also worth noting that Tarkowski was lucky to still be on the pitch at this point after nearly breaking Alexis Mac Allister’s leg in the first half with a horror tackle.
Check Webb and Owen discussing our goal by clicking here.
