Neil Mellor was left baffled by the linesman’s decision to not raise his flag less than 30 seconds before Manchester United equalised against Liverpool on Sunday.
Antony, who made the scoreline 2-2 during normal time before another three goals in extra-time saw United win the tie 4-3, fired home shortly after Virgil van Dijk’s clearance saw the hosts retain possession of the ball in the middle of the park.
Our No.4 was not under pressure when making the clearance but the ball was heading in the direction of Marcus Rashford who was clearly in an offside position.
Mellor, taking to his X account, therefore believes that the linesman should’ve raised his flag – highlighting the fact that Jurgen Klopp’s side didn’t retain possession during the period in between this incident and Antony’s goal.
86mins: Why doesn’t the lino put his flag up when someone’s blatantly offside?!
VVD has to clear the ball, Liverpool never regain it and fewer than 20 seconds later the ball is in the back of net to make it 2-2 🤦🏻♂️
Put your flag up lino! #ReviewShow #LFCTV #MNULIV pic.twitter.com/xHDiZQYu6h— Neil Mellor (@NeilMellor33) March 18, 2024
We can certainly understand where Mellor is coming from. If Rashford wasn’t stood in an offside position then Van Dijk wouldn’t have felt the need to clear the ball.
We know that United’s No.10 didn’t touch the ball but our skipper was clearly aware of his presence in behind him.
The offside rule has changed numerous times down the years so it’s not exactly clear whether the flag should’ve been raised or not.
We should’ve defended the goal a lot better and it was a huge blow to concede so late on but it’s something we need to accept with Europa League and Premier League glory now the aim.