The Premier League have released a statement to explain why Newcastle United's winning goal against Manchester City was allowed to stand, despite claims of offside in the build up.
The Magpies claimed a huge 2-1 win at St James' Park after Harvey Barnes scored twice, either side of a Ruben Dias equaliser, all in a manic eight-minute spell in the second half.
However, the winning goal was surrounded by controversy after a lengthy VAR check for offside, as images seemed to show that Brazil international Bruno Guimaraes had drifted beyond the last defender in the build-up to the goal.
VAR spent several minutes looking at the footage before allowing the goal to stand, much to the fury of Pep Guardiola's side, and Newcastle then managed to hold on for all three points, harming City's chances of catching Arsenal in the title race.
Premier League Explain How Newcastle Winner vs Man City Stood
Newcastle Man City Donnarumma
After the goal stood, the Premier League released a statement on their X account for VAR decisions to explain the process, much to the confusion of fans who watched the game.
"The referee’s call of goal was checked and confirmed by VAR – with both Guimarães and Barnes in onside positions in the build-up. The VAR also checked and confirmed the referee's call of no foul on Donnarumma prior to the goal."
The images used showed that City defender Dias was jumping for a header, but eagle-eyed fans noted in response to the message that he wasn't at the time the ball was played, calling into question the integrity of the image used by the semi-automated technology.
Another fan described the incident as a 'pure robbery', labelling the Premier League as 'pathetic' for the decision, while another fan admitted that 'for the life of him, he couldn't understand how it was onside'.
The line on the image seemed to line up with Dias' armpit, but the short sleeve of the player is often cited as being where the offside line should start, sparking even more confusion.
Newcastle fans will be delighted at getting the decision, but City fans will rightly be bewildered and the Premier League statement did little to offer any clarity.
Erling Haaland in action during Manchester City's defeat against Newcastle Related
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