Rio Ferdinand believes that the officials at Craven Cottage were right to rule out Man United’s early goal for an offside infringement against Harry Maguire.
Scott McTominay thought he had put the visitors ahead against Fulham eight minutes into Saturday’s Premier League clash, but following a VAR check, and a subjective call, Maguire was deemed to be interfering with play despite not touching the ball himself.
Both TNT Sports pundits Rio Ferdinand and Joe Cole agreed with the decision, even though it took about four minutes to finalise the decision.
Ferdinand said: ‘In the end, it’s the right decision. Man United fans are feeling aggrieved in the stadium, but Harry Maguire does get in the way of the defender. He influences the defender’s decision, affects his position.
‘It was a great ball across from [Alejandro] Garnacho, good finish from McTominay. I agree with the on-field decision.’
Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand agreed with the offside call at Fulham
Scott McTominay thought he had put the visitors ahead at Craven Cottage after eight minutes
A lengthy VAR check resulted in the goal being chalked off as Harry Maguire was offside
On the length of time it took to get the decision made, Cole added: ‘We saw the debacle at White Hart Lane with the VAR. It’s a real tricky situation because Harry Maguire is offside, and he does make an attempt. Clearly he’s affecting the game so they do get it right.
‘[In the studio] We’ve got 35, 40 minutes to make up our minds. They’ve got four minutes. They’ve got it right. For Man United, Erik ten Hag, it would have been an amazing start to the game.’
Cole said the first half was ‘Tedious’, and Ferdinand concurred, adding ‘It’s been a slow watch’.
Cole added: ‘Manchester United have been poor. You’ve come here, you want a response from the players. They’ve been short. They’ve been lacklustre, tedious, no imagination. Hojlund’s touched the ball 13, 14 times. It’s just been poor.’
Fellow pundit Joe Cole believed Maguire was clearly affecting the game during the move
