Var controversy: Why Referee Chris Kavanagh did not rule out John Stones late winner goal against Wolves

Referee Chris Kavanagh didn’t rule out John Stones’ late goal against Wolves, even though VAR sent him to the field to look at it again. It looked like Stones had saved City deep into injury time when he went in, but he didn’t realize that his effort had been called back.

Stones saw that the goal was being looked at by VAR when he came back from celebrating in the boxes. Stuart Atwell, a VAR official, said Kavanagh went to the fieldside monitor after the goal, which he had initially ruled out because Bernardo Silva was too close to Wolves goalie Jose Sa when the header was met.

A lot of the time, when judges look at the screen, they are going to change their minds. After Kavanagh scored, there were wild scenes on the field for City.

The Premier League Match Center talked about the ruling on X, which used to be Twitter. “Stones’ goal was called back on the field because Bernardo Silva was offside and in the goalkeeper’s line of sight.” The video review officer (VAR) said Bernardo Silva wasn’t in the goalkeeper’s line of sight and didn’t have any effect on him. They suggested an on-field review.

Silva was offside because he was ducking when Stones hit the ball with his head. Silva was already one of the smallest players on the field. Also, the player wasn’t standing right in front of Sa; he was standing a little to the side of him.

The goal put Pep Guardiola’s team back on top of the Premier League before Liverpool’s game against Chelsea. It was Stones’ second goal in as many games to help City win points, after his late equalizer against Arsenal last month. City won again after falling behind.

Jorgen Strand Larsen gave Wolves, who are in last place, an early lead at Molineux. But just before halftime, Josko Gvardiol tied the game with another amazing goal. Sa made several great saves in goal to keep City in the game, but Stones scored the game-winning goal.