Disallowed Rayo Vallecano goal vs. Barcelona followed the offside rules, say experts | OneFootball

The last night was a good one for FC Barcelona as the Blaugranes returned to the top of the La Liga table following their win against Rayo Vallecano.

However, this was quite a hard win to get for Barcelona, and the match itself was also filled with several controversial decisions on the part of the referee, Mario Melero López.

One of the actions that raised the most controversy was the goal scored by Rayo Vallecano in the last minutes of the first half, which was ruled out for offside even though the scorer, Jorge du Frutos, was in an onside position.

The offside was called because a player from the visiting side, Randy Nteka, obstructed Iñigo Martínez from an offside position, and kept him from reaching the De Frutos in time.

According to sources consulted by Mundo Deportivo, this was quite a fair decision, as such a penalty is clearly stated in the rules relating to offside. Rule 11, which relates to the subject of offsides, goes as:

“A player will only be penalized for being in an offside position at the moment the ball is played or touched by a teammate if they actively participate in the play in one of the following ways: Preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing their line of vision; challenging an opponent for the ball; clearly attempting to play a nearby ball through an action that impacts an opponent; or performing an action that clearly affects an opponent’s ability to play the ball.”

Thus, Nteka’s actions clearly fell in the last category of actions highlighted in this rule, as he obstructed Iñigo Martínez while being in an offside position.

Furthermore, this decision was also supported by the VAR, and thus, there should not really be any doubts about this particular action, even though it is easy to understand Rayo’s frustration with the referee’s decision.