Viral clip proves Cristiano Ronaldo’s disallowed goal v Newcastle was perfectly legal
Cristiano Ronaldo was raging after being denied a goal for Manchester United against Newcastle on Sunday – and fresh footage has emerged suggesting he was right to feel upset.
Early in the second period of the 0-0 draw at Old Trafford, Ronaldo was rightfully flagged offside following a United attack.
The resulting free-kick, however, would become the subject of much controversy.
Newcastle defender Fabian Schar knocked the ball back to his goalkeeper, Nick Pope, at which point Ronaldo believed that the set piece had been taken.
Considering the ball to be in play, the United legend wasted no time in taking the ball from under Pope’s nose and poking it into the back of an unguarded net.
Ronaldo’s celebrations, though, were cut short by the whistle of referee Craig Pawson.
The official ruled that Schar had only touched the ball back to Pope so the free-kick could be taken, providing the visitors with a massive let off.
Footage from the stands at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ has since gone viral clearly showing that Pawson had blown his whistle before Schar made contact with the ball.
Ronaldo was booked for his furious protests after the effort was chalked off. The clip below makes it easy to see why he was so frustrated.
Watch: Viral clip shows Ronaldo’s disallowed goal was perfectly legal
Video from the stands, we can hear the referee whistle and the player of Newcastle playing the ball, the goal of @Cristiano was perfectly legal @PremierLeague.
Video via Channel “Bettsy UK” in YouTube pic.twitter.com/RjrDLuOFt2
— . (@Twitugal) October 16, 2022
The noise inside the stadium made it tough to pick up the referee’s whistle on TV broadcasts, but it’s painfully obvious in the clip above.
Understandably, United fans didn’t hold back when it came to blasting the officiating in the comments section. You can check out the best of the reaction below.
The decision capped off an infuriating afternoon for Red Devils supporters, who also saw their side controversially denied two penalty kicks by referee Pawson.
In total, the hosts managed just two shots on target during the match – although Marcus Rashford should have done far better with a late headed chance that he sent wide.
On the balance of play, though, United will still believe they did enough on the day to take all three points.
The stalemate leaves Erik ten Hag’s men 11 points behind Premier League pacesetters Arsenal after Sunday’s fixtures.
It remains to be seen how crucial the two points dropped will be for United come the end of the season.
Ten Hag appeared to express his discontent with the officiating at the final whistle during a lively exchange with Pawson. However, the Dutchman wouldn’t be drawn into criticising the man in charge during his post-match interview with Sky Sports.
“I don’t have a comment, everyone has seen it,” he said of Ronaldo’s disallowed goal.
“I shared that with them (the officials). Everyone has seen what happened today on the pitch.”
