Journalist explains why Harry Kane’s goal was correctly disallowed

ESPN editor Dale Johnson has taken to Twitter to try to give his reasoning for why Tottenham Hotspur’s late goal against Sporting CP was ruled out by VAR.

With the score level at 1-1 deep into injury time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Spurs thought they had secured their place in the last 16 of the Champions League when Harry Kane turned the ball home from close range.

Emerson Royal’s headed knockdown deflected off a Sporting defender and into the path of Kane who sent the home supporters into a frenzy of celebrations.

After a lengthy VAR check, the Spurs talisman was ruled to be offside, meaning the north Londoners will have to avoid defeat away to Marseille next week to qualify for the knockout stages.

Eric Dier was heard questioning referee Danny Makkelie about the decision after Royal’s header went backwards (BT Sport), with Johnson claiming that the direction of which the ball travelled is irrelevant since Kane was in an offside position.

Harry Kane ahead of the ball….

Haven't seen any 3D visualisation version but:

"The ball went backwards!" Eric Dier said. The direction a ball is played is irrelevant for offside.

The deflection is also not a deliberate play so doesn't reset Kane's offside position. pic.twitter.com/7Pg3GFsK51

— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) October 26, 2022

SpursWeb Opinion

Johnson is simply starting the laws of the game, however, the bigger question here is the position of where UEFA have decided to draw the lines to deem Kane to be offside. 

Should it be drawn at the left-hand side of the ball, there is simply no consistency when it comes to this kind of call which could prove to cost Tottenham millions of pounds if they fall to defeat in Marseille and other results go against them.

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