Former referee Peter Walton disagreed with Rio Ferdinand, claiming that Granit Xhaka's goal against Manchester United should not have been allowed to stand.With 20 minutes remaining, Xhaka struck from distance to send United to their second defeat of the week, losing 3-1 to Arsenal. The setback drops them to sixth place in the Premier League, therefore ending their chances of qualifying for the Champions League.
Replays of the goal revealed that Eddie Nketiah, who was standing in an offside position when Xhaka struck the ball, obstructed David de Gea's view. Before making a frantic attempt to reach Xhaka's shot, the United goalkeeper can be seen trying to see past the Arsenal striker.Former referee Walton claimed that VAR had made the correct choice in allowing the goal to stand on BT Sport at full-time. Ferdinand, on the other hand, was not having it."He's offside," Ferdinand said of Nketiah. "It's a fantastic strike, an incredible arrow, but isn't De Gea interfering with play in that shot of him peering around that player?"
"He's in an offside position, so De Gea needs to check around the player to make sure he's in line with him." It should be offside if he has to bend around a player who is in an offside position."
"Rio is correct in terms of interference," Walton countered, "but the offence is committed if an attacker is right in front of the goalkeeper's eyes." You could say that he (De Gea) is scanning his surroundings, but (Victor) Lindelof is also present.As the ball is struck, he begins to look past him, but it is Lindelof who is in front of De Gea. That player is not necessarily in his line of sight, and VAR has examined it from multiple angles and determined that Lindelof, not Nketiah, is defending the ball, thus the goal stands. VAR, in my opinion, has it right on this one."
United wasn't the only one that felt wronged by the ruling. During the first half, the visitors were refused two penalties, one of which was due to Cedric Soares' handling of the ball in the penalty area, before surrendering one of their own after Alex Telles' challenge on Bukayo Saka.
"I think VAR is a good idea," Ferdinand replied when asked about it.
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