The footballing world is losing its collective mind in the wake of Sunderland’s disallowed goal against Derby County on Tuesday night, but one idea has been rubbished entirely.
With Sunderland leading 1-0 at Pride Park, Jobe Bellingham played a long ball over the top which Enzo Le Fee knocked down for Wilson Isidor to finish off.
The scoreboard read 2-0 to the away side. Isidor had wheeled off to celebrate with his teammates. No flag was raised and no foul play was indicated by referee Sam Allison.
And yet, somehow, moments later, Isidor’s goal was ruled out for reasons unknown. It was a decision that baffled pundits across the game, and left Sunderland fans furious.
Mark Halsey claims Isidor’s goal cannot be disallowed for handball
Some have suggested Isidor was offside when the ball was played by Jobe, while others have proposed that Le Fee may have (accidentally) committed a handball in the build-up.
Taking to Twitter/X to discuss the incident and offer his thoughts on why the goal could possibly have been chalked off, former Premier League referee, Mark Halsey, insisted it couldn’t have been due to a handball, at least by the laws of the game.
Halsey began by saying it was “difficult to see why the goal was disallowed,” but when a reply put forward the idea of a handball, Halsey responded: “If so, why didn’t the the referee stop the game immediately and give a free kick? It looks totally accidental and he wasn’t the goalscorer.”
Halsey went on to clarify the handball rule further, adding: “Only if the player who scores the goal accidentally handles the ball then the goal should be disallowed.”
Therefore, it would seem, the theory of Enzo Le Fee touching the ball with his hand should have nothing to do with the decision to rule out Isidor’s strike.
If so, Isidor must have been adjudged to be offside. The problem is, he clearly wasn’t, and neither the assistant nor the referee indicated that on the pitch during or immediately after the goal.
Sunderland were robbed, but it worked out in the end
Ultimately, it would appear Sunderland and Wilson Isidor were robbed of that second goal, but thankfully, they were able to grind out the result without it.
An investigation and thorough explanation will be needed on the back of this, as it certainly paints EFL refereeing standards in a bad light.
The situation also capped a terrible week for Isidor after his two penalty misses against Burnley last Friday night. But, those misses and this injustice will surely feed the forward’s hunger to succeed, and he could be set for a very exciting end to the season.
After that, it seems Sunderland have made up their mind on Isidor and want to keep him permanently. Given his goalscoring efforts this term, and his positive connection with the fans already, that’s not a surprise at all.