Major Reason why Galatasaray goal vs Manchester United should have been ruled out by VAR

Man United threw away two-goal leads twice in their next-to-last Champions League game, but Hakim Ziyech’s first goal might have been called offside.

The rules of the game say that Hakim Ziyech’s first goal against Manchester United should have been called off by VAR.

In their second-to-last Champions League group stage match on Wednesday night, Galatasaray and United played to a thrilling 3-3 draw. At different times, Erik ten Hag’s team was ahead 2-0 and 3-1 before giving up careless goals.

After great finishes from Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes, a goal was scored by Moroccan player Ziyech, who used to play for Ajax and for United manager Ten Hag. His weak free kick went past an off-guard Andre Onana. But now that I look at the goal again, it looks like it should have been ruled out.

Mauro Icardi, a striker for Galatasaray, is standing next to Rasmus Hojlund in the United wall as Ziyech goes to take the free kick. But UEFA rules say that the Italian player did something wrong.

The UEFA rules say: “If the defending team make a defensive wall of three players or more, all attacking team players must be at least 1m (1 yd) from the wall until the ball is in play.”

The end of United’s four-man wall is less than one meter away from Icardi, so referee Jose Maria Sanchez should have given the Reds an indirect free kick. VAR should have told him about the problem if he hadn’t seen the violation.

UEFA rules say: “The VAR team will check all match-changing situations, but will only intervene for clear and obvious mistakes.” Soon after halftime, United increased their lead to two goals when Scott McTominay scored after a great move down the right side. However, Ten Hag’s team lost again.

Another weak Ziyech set piece got by Onana, but Muhammed Aktürkoğlu scored an amazing goal with 19 minutes left to tie the game. In the last few minutes, there was a lot of chaos, and both teams missed chances. There was also a lot of space at both ends, but neither United nor Galatasaray could find a winner.

Ten Hag’s team is now at the bottom of Group A going into the last week of games, when they play Bayern Munich.