Why was Man City's goal against Fulham allowed to stand?

It always seems to be Marco Silva left with his head in his hands, berating the fourth official over yet another call he thinks has gone against him.

On this occasion, the stage was the Etihad Stadium. Fulham had performed admirably in a first half in which Manchester City had looked well off their usual pace, even managing an equaliser via Tim Ream after falling behind to Julian Alvarez's strike.

Silva thought his side would be heading into the second half level with the reigning champions on their own turf, but that wasn't to be the case. Nathan Ake converted a Phil Foden corner with just seconds of the first half remaining, much to the fury of the Fulham boss who felt the goal should have been ruled out.

Manuel Akanji appeared to be in an offside position, jumping over the ball as it flew beyond Bernd Leno in the Fulham goal. So, why was Ake's goal not chalked off?

Why was Nathan Ake's goal allowed to stand?

Law 11 in the FA handbook says a goal will be adjudged to be offside if a player is "preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision".

Akanji was clearly in Leno's eye line and impacts his ability to play the ball and make the save, so why VAR didn't intervene to disallow the goal remains a mystery. It's irrelevant whether or not Akanji attempted to play the ball, merely that he was blocking the goalkeeper's sight of the ball by standing in an offside position.

Speaking on Sky Sports' Soccer Saturday, former Premier League referee Mike Dean stated: "He jumped over the ball, it's gone between his legs. It must have put the goalkeeper off. In my opinion, he's a good half a yard offside. He jumps over the ball, so he can't not be interfering with the goalkeeper."

Dean's opinion was shared by Michael Dawson who was watching the game live and has likely been echoed by Silva to the referee at half time. There may well be an apology from Howard Webb in the post.

Reaction to Nathan Ake's goal being allowed to stand against Fulham

Journalist Ben Jacobs took to Twitter after watching the first half at the Etihad, suggesting Fulham were "fuming...and rightly so" with Ake's late header.

This viewpoint was shared by Sky Sports' Laura Hunter: "Marco Silva is incensed on the touchline. He's got a point. Akanji is clearly in an offside position as Ake's header is diverted goalward, and undoubtedly interferes with Leno's view of the ball, intentionally or not."

It will be interesting to see how Silva, who has already been booked three times for dissent this season, will react after the game, with the Portuguese coach never afraid to speak his mind in post-match interviews.

An Erling Haaland brace eventually took City out of sight against the Cottagers, but the champions certainly got a helping hand from VAR and the officials.

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