Tottenham thought they had sealed their place in the Champions League knockout stages on Wednesday night, only for their dramatic late winner to be ruled out by VAR.
They had fallen behind 1-0 at home to Sporting Lisbon, thanks to a goal from their own academy product, Marcus Edwards.
Rodrigo Bentancur pulled it back level with 10 minutes to go, before Harry Kane swept home from close range in the fifth and final minute of injury time.
The Tottenham players and fans celebrated raucously, only for the goal to be ruled out after a lengthy VAR check.
Head coach Antonio Conte raged at the decision, resulting in him being shown a red card. Tottenham now face a nervy trip to Marseille in their final group game, knowing they probably need at least a point to qualify, and may have to win to top Group D.
Why was Kane’s goal ruled out?
Ivan Perišić swung in a cross from the left side that found Emerson Royal to the right of the six-yard box.
Emerson headed the ball towards Kane, it deflected off a Sporting defender, and the Spurs striker swept it past goalkeeper Antonio Adán with just seconds remaining in injury time.
Harry Kane came so close to securing his side's place in the knockout stages with this goal…
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 26, 2022
…but VAR was having none of it!!#UCL pic.twitter.com/q1Ekz5wvWB
However, after a check that lasted several minutes and left the Tottenham crowd waiting in confusion, the goal was ruled out by VAR.
The officials determined that Kane was in front of the ball when Emerson headed it, making it offside.
Can you be offside if the ball is passed backwards?
Yes, it is possible to be judged offside if the ball is passed backwards, as long as the player who receives the ball is in front of it when it is initially passed.
For this to happen, the ball must deflect off a defender and into their path. This is exactly what happened in Tottenham on Wednesday night.
Emerson’s header did go backwards and Kane was behind him when the ball was headed, but he was slightly in front of the ball. Because the deflection off the defender was accidental, the goal was ruled out.
If the defender’s intervention is deliberate it is a different story, and the attacker should no longer be ruled offside.
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“All the people came onto the pitch and then the referee decided to send me off,” Conte said after the game.
“I think there are moments where you can understand you have just disallowed a regular goal because the ball is in front of Kane.
“You know that I don’t comment on the referee’s decision but the VAR this season in the Premier League and the Champions League, we are not so lucky.
“I think it creates a big damage. I’d like to see this type of decision with a top team in an important game, I’d like to see if the VAR is so brave to take this decision – I repeat an unfair decision because the ball is in front of Kane.
“Sorry but I’m really upset because sometimes you can accept this situation but sometimes I think it’s not good because I don’t see honesty in this type of situation and when I don’t see this I become really, really upset.
“For the game, I think we played the first half with low intensity and Sporting Lisbon deserved to stay 1-0 up. At the end of the game, after our second half, I think we deserved to get three points. But now for this decision we have to wait for the last game against Marseille.”
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