Howard Webb finally makes admission about Bruno Fernandes' controversial goal v Man City
PGMOL chief refereeing officer Howard Webb has admitted that Bruno Fernandes' controversial goal in the recent Manchester derby would now be deemed offside.
"I think it was the most talked about incident in the Premier League so far this year. An offside player who doesn't touch the ball, the question then becomes does he interfere with the opponents.
"Over time, the laws of the game have moved in a direction where to be penalised for being in a offside position without touching the ball, you have to one of four quite specific things. The aim was to be consistent with the application.
"Rashford doesn't exactly do those four things, but you can make an argument that he does. There's definitely an element of interpretation needed, there's some subjectivity about it. On the day, the officials didn't feel he had interfered in the way it is defined in the law. That was supportable.
"The game has told us that there's an expectation that the situation should have led to an offside. We're here to serve the game and listen to the game.
"If that same circumstance happened again, you'd probably see a different outcome now based on all we've taken on board since then."
Rashford was adjudged to be offside in the build-up to Fernandes' equalizer. The Englishman would step forward to score the winner.