Why on-field review was needed to determine offside on Udinese’s goal vs. Milan | OneFootball

In the dying moments of last night’s game, AC Milan thought they had conceded an equaliser as Udinese managed to find the back of the net. However, the goal was disallowed for an offside which some had trouble understanding at first.

Indeed, it was a dramatic ending to the game and Milan were rescued by the semi-automated offside, truth be told. However, the decision required an on-field VAR review by the referee Daniele Chiffi to determine whether Jurgen Ekkelenkamp – the player in the offside position – actually interfered with the play.

As the replays were shown on TV, many – us included – struggled to understand what VAR had picked up at first. The right decision was made in the end, though, and Errori Arbitrali explained it well on X after the game.

Before the pass reached Ekkelenkamp, the ball came off Strahinja Pavlovic and this could have put the Udinese man back in play, thus preventing an offside call from being made. However, as seen in image 1 above, Ekkelenkamp actively took part in play (interfering with Thiaw) before the ball deflected off of Pavlovic.

Given that the offside was so narrow, it’s understandable why so many viewers were confused when they first saw the replays. It didn’t make things easier that Chiffi had to make an on-field review to determine whether Ekkelenkamp took part in play (rather than it being a black-and-white offside).