Former Premier League referee, Mike Dean has opened up about Jobe Bellingham’s offside goal suggesting the offside decision against West Brom was wrong.
This weekend Sunderland began life without Tony Mowbray as they faced West Bromwich Albion at the Stadium of Light.
It was Mike Dodds who took up the hot seat against the Baggies and witnessed his side take a 2-1 win away.
Goals from Dan Ballard and Dan Neil were enough to secure all three points despite a late Brandon Thomas-Asante goal.
On the day, the Black Cats had more possession and created more chances and were deserving of the win in the end. With 1.4 xG and three big chances created, they were much more creative than their opponents.
With all that being said, the game could have been even further out of West Brom’s reach should a goal have stood.
What has Mike Dean said about Jobe Bellingham?
With the scores at 0-0, Sunderland appeared to have got their noses in front as Jobe Bellingham tapped into an empty net.
Alex Palmer, in the Baggies net, spilled a shot and it fell straight to Bellingham inside the six-yard box. He was adjudged to be offside. On second viewing it is clear to see that he is onside as Cedric Kipre is deeper than the Englishman.
Although Patrick Roberts is offside, he doesn’t get involved and as a result can’t be flagged. Bellingham is quite clearly onside.
Speaking on the decision, former Premier League referee, Mike Dean has opened up to Sky Sports this weekend.
On that, he said: “It’s definitely a wrong decision. He’s onside by at least a yard to be fair. There are a few things that happened after the initial decision but you can clearly see there he’s a good yard onside.
“The keeper saves it, comes back out to Bellingham, puts it in the back of the net and that’s just a goal. VAR would have overturned it 100%.”
Although right now, in the Premier League, VAR is very unpopular, for moments like this in the EFL it could be necessary. On another day, West Brom win that game and that Bellingham goal makes all the difference.
It is lucky to say that it didn’t happen to affect the Black Cats on the day but it is a shocker of a decision to say the least. The win saw Sunderland rise to sixth which given the manager’s situation can only be a positive.