A VAR expert has revealed why Henrikh Mkhitaryan's disallowed goal for Inter Milan in the Champions League semi-final would likely have stood in the Premier League. The Italian and Catalan giants played out an incredibly entertaining 3-3 draw in the first leg of the last-four tie, with Lamine Yamal stealing the show.
However, the Nerazzurri could've been taking a precious lead back to the San Siro had it not been for the Armenian being called offside by the barest of margins. While replays showed that his big toe was in front of the final defender, it has been explained why this would not have mattered had the game taken place in the English top flight.
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Premier League Rule Would've Allowed Mkhitaryan Goal to Stand
The offside laws in the English top flight are slightly different to in Europe
According to ESPN's expert Dale Johnson, despite the fact that both the Champions League and the Premier League use semi-automated offsides, the 'tolerance level' given to attacking players in the English top flight means that a call as close to the one that was given against Mkhitaryan would likely have been allowed to stand.
Taking to social media, Johnson explained:
"Reminder that only the Premier League has a "tolerance level", or "benefit of the doubt", built into semi-automated offside. This would likely have been given as onside in the Premier League."
As per an ESPN article explaining the tolerance rule, the introduction of semi-automated offside to English football has meant that thicker lines will be used when drawing offside calls, which are said to have a margin of error of roughly 5cm. This has been done to rule out any examples of what was described as 'toenail' offsides, where the attacking player is barely ahead of the final defender.
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The Premier League is currently the only division to use this, with it also being seen in the last World Cup.