Manchester United were furious after conceding ‘offside’ goal against CSKA Moscow – but here is why it stood
Daley Blind was the key man as Alan Dzagoev deflected Vitinho's shot into the Stretford End goal
MANCHESTER UNITED were confused and angered as CSKA Moscow took a shock lead at Old Trafford in bizarre circumstances.
To everyone inside the stadium, Vitinho's shot, deflected off Alan Dzagoev appeared to be a blatant offside, just seconds before the half time whistle.
But things were soon clear as replays showed the linesman was pointing at Daley Blind, who had slid beyond the goal line and become the second defender to play Dzagoev, 27, onside.
That meant the offisde line effectively became level with keeper Sergio Romero.
The FA has an interpretation of the offisde law.
It says: "A defending player who leaves the field of play without the referee's permission shall be considered to be on the goal line or touchline for the purposes of offside until the next stoppage in play or until the defending team has played the ball towards the halfway line and it is outside their penalty area.
MOST READ IN FOOTBALL
"It the player left the field deliberately, the player must be cautioned when the ball is next out of play."
Of course there was no suggestion Blind left the field of play deliberately, so no yellow card.
SHAW SCHOLDED Manchester United legend Paul Scholes criticises Luke Shaw's lifestyle
But it was clear soon after the goal that the linesman was pointing at Blind for being 'active' and therefore allowing the goal to stand.
Ironically, Vitinho's effort might not have gone in if it wasn't for Dzagoev's intervention.
But as of full-time, the goal has been awarded to the Brazilian, suggesting his effort may have actually been on target all along.
United manager Jose Mourinho said: "Yeah the first impression was offside but then no, and a good thing was that in the second half they showed the desire of not qualifying with a defeat.
"We could lose four or five nil and quality but that was not the objective, the objective was to qualify well and try to have a result and we managed both things."
THE WHISTLEBLOWER - MARK HALSEY VERDICT
IT was absolutely the correct decision to allow CSKA Moscow’s first-half strike to stand at Old Trafford against United last night.
A defender who leaves the pitch unintentionally without the permission of the referee is considered, according to the laws, to be on the goal-line for the purposes of offside.
Daley Blind was, therefore, seen as being technically on the goal-line despite, in fact, being off the pitch at the time the ball was kicked.
That meant the Dutch midfielder, along with keeper Sergio Romero, were playing Alan Dzagoev onside for a legitimate goal when he was struck by the shot from CSKA’s Vitinho, who was credited with the score.