The Tigers claimed a famous victory to set up a play-off semi-final with Millwall
Oli McBurnie slotted in Hull City’s biggest goal of the season(Image: Freddie Yeo/MB Media/Getty Images)
Oli McBurnie’s winning goal against Norwich City on Saturday is believed to have been onside, despite former referee Dermot Gallagher suggesting to the contrary.
McBurnie breached the Norwich offside trap after Lewie Coyle’s free-kick was nodded into his path by Matt Crooks, with that goal completing City’s turnaround from being a goal down after 26 minutes, after the Scotsman had levelled up from the penalty spot.
Wrexham fans slammed the decision to allow the goal, with some suggesting Phil Parkinson’s men were ‘robbed’ because of the call, which ex-Premier League official Gallagher said it should not have stood.
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It’s thought that a Canaries defender’s back leg was, in fact, playing McBurnie on, and the goal was rightly given by referee Josh Smith and his assistant, despite the suggestion to the contrary.
“I think this just shows that without VAR, you have to accept that now and again this will happen,” Gallagher said on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch.
“It’s very, very interesting in the week that the EFL voted against VAR, they didn’t want it, so they’re obviously happy that this will happen at some point in the season because it’s inevitable, but he is offside, there’s no doubt about that. It just didn’t get picked up.
“Unfortunately, we always remember the decisions that go against us. You can say, well, Wrexham will be really upset about that, but I don’t know, in the previous games, I dare say a decision has gone in Wrexham’s favour at some point because that’s the nature of the beast.”
Former Cardiff City striker Jay Bothroyd agreed with Gallagher’s assessment that, in his view, McBurnie was indeed offside and called for VAR to be introduced.
“I’ll tell you what is expensive, if they (Wrexham) was to go up through the play-offs, how much money do you get for that game now? Is that the most expensive game in football still?” Bothroyd continued.
“I’ve been speaking about this all season, haven’t I, and I’ve been saying if this happens at the end of the season and it costs a team from getting in the play-offs, going down, getting into the Champions League, it’s terrible for the club as a whole.
“When you look at that, you can clearly see McBurnie’s offside. I’m surprised that the linesman, if you look at the linesman as well, you can see that he’s actually looking across the line; he’s bent down, you can see him actually looking across the line.
“I don’t understand how he cannot see that. I always give credit where credit’s due when it comes to decisions from referees and linesmen, but that one there, he can see that, you can see that with the naked eye, that he’s offside. You won’t even need to go and look at VAR. I can’t believe he’s missed that. It’s not that far away from him, and there’s only one player ahead of everyone else.”
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