Clarified: The Reason Behind the Disallowance of the Wanderers’ Winning Goal

Alan Shortall, General Manager of Elite Refereeing at Football Australia, has elaborated on the reasoning that led to the decision not to award a late winner to Western Sydney Wanderers during their 2-2 draw with Melbourne City on Saturday night.

In a dramatic finish, a 95th-minute header from the Wanderers was ruled out for offside, as defender Anthony Pantazopoulos was deemed to be returning from an offside position when he made contact with the ball—a situation that posed a significant challenge for referee Adam Kersey and his officiating team.

Video replays indicated that Pantazopoulos was indeed in an offside position when Alex Gersbach sent in a late free-kick from the right flank. However, Wanderers striker Marcus Antonsson insisted that he had touched the ball before it reached Pantazopoulos’s head.

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If Antonsson had been acknowledged as having touched the ball, the goal would have been counted.

However, VAR Shaun Evans reviewed every available angle and could not definitively confirm that Antonsson had made contact, thus leaving the on-field offside decision unchallenged due to a lack of a clear and obvious error.

Watch the footage for yourself below.

“Initially, the on-field team has made a solid call regarding the offside situation,” Shortall, who has dedicated 19 years to elite refereeing in the NRL before joining Football Australia in February, told aleagues.com.au.

“The assistant referee determined that Pantazopoulos was offside. The officiating team, therefore, concluded that he had touched the ball and influenced the scoring of the goal. The VAR examined this aspect and, finding no clear and obvious error, confirmed that Pantazopoulos was the only player to make contact with the ball. Based on the evidence, the offside decision stands as correct.”

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“Had Antonsson actually touched the ball, it would have changed the starting point for the Attacking Possession Phase (APP) and, ultimately, the manner in which the decision is assessed,” Shortall continued.

“As Antonsson was onside, if he had touched the ball, Pantazopoulos would then be considered onside due to the new phase of play.”

Shortall acknowledged that the communication from officials regarding this incident could have been clearer, stressing that the referee is limited to the footage at hand.

“I would love for us to be able to go live to air with the VAR explaining that process and providing transparency around the decision,” he explained.

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“But currently, VAR protocols don’t permit this. It’s my hope that we can improve in this area, allowing officials to verbally educate viewers in real-time, explaining ‘this is exactly why we’ve made this decision’, which could alter the way VAR communicates throughout the process.”