Early morning, May 19th.
England Premier Soccer League
A highlight of the 37th round of the tournament.
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Hosting the now relegated Fulham. In the match, Cavani was once again in top form as he scored a superb long-distance shot, which can be described as a fairytale goal. However, the slow-motion camera showed that the goal should have been invalid, because Cavani was offside when goalkeeper De Gea passed the ball. However, VAR did not intervene, which caused dissatisfaction among the opponent's skipper.
The match was only 15 minutes old when Cavani scored, the whole thing was so quick that you barely had time to react.
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The ball was passed out of the backfield, De Gea received the ball, looked up to see where his teammates were standing in front of him, and went straight for a big long pass. There was a drop as the ball skidded adjacent to the center line, and B Faye lifted his foot and made a pass. The ball proceeded to go forward and eventually came to the feet of Cavani. The Uruguayan high speed forward, in seeing the goalkeeper stand close to the front, he cleverly chose a long-distance shot, the ball cut through a wonderful arc, into the net.
Cavani's shot was perfect, no questions asked. After the goal, Cavani was very uplifted. On the internet, journalists and fans from all sides were also in awe, applauding the Uruguayan striker's improvisation. However, there were soon questions about the goal:
England Premier Soccer League
Officials initially counted the goal as an assist from De Gea, so that means that the
England Premier Soccer League
The official thought B Faye didn't touch the ball. However, Cavani was clearly offside the moment De Gea crossed the ball.
England Premier Soccer League
The officials are slapping themselves in the face, aren't they?
The Daily Mail reporter was seriously unhappy with the referee's behavior: "Since they thought B Faye hadn't touched the ball, Cavani was offside. I don't want to see this beautiful goal blown, but if VAR can't be 100% effective, then what's the point of its existence?"
During the halftime break.
England Premier Soccer League
Officials have changed the stats, changing the assist for Cavani's goal from De Gea to B Faye. In the opinion of the fans
England Premier Soccer League
The officials are forcing their hand and smearing themselves more and more. The slow-mo shows that B Faye didn't touch the ball at all. How does a guy who didn't touch the ball make an assist? To whitewash a fault.
England Premier Soccer League
Officials created a bigger fault.
After the game, B Fei himself also graciously admitted that he did not touch the ball: "To be honest, I didn't touch the ball. The referee said I touched the ball.
Of course, I don't care too much about that. I always say the most important job is to score goals, it doesn't matter who scored or who assisted."
Fulham boss Parker questions referee in public, thinks they're biased
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. "I don't understand how it wasn't offside. The fourth official himself said that if B Faye hadn't touched the ball, Cavani would have been 5 yards offside. I watched the replay. If we didn't have VAR, I could say it was a human error. But we do have VAR, and if you look closely, you can see that B-Faye did not touch the ball."
It's worth noting that the referee for the game was Lee Mason, who will be retiring from on-field legal work at the end of the season, no longer refereeing on the field and specializing in VAR. Legal since 2006
England Premier Soccer League
Since then, Mason has blown 288 penalties
England Premier Soccer League
Today
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The match against Fulham was the curtain call for his refereeing career. As Mason had made a number of improper decisions before, fans called him the "blind monk".
While the goal was controversial, Cavani's performance was indisputably superb.
The now 34-year-old's form in his last 10 games has been nothing short of unbelievable, scoring nine goals and dishing out four assists to rack up 13 goals.
This season, he's had a great season in the
England Premier Soccer League
scored 10 goals, tying Diego Fran's record. He also
Manchester United Football Club
The 3rd player in team history to reach the age of 33 at the beginning of the season and have a double-double goal season, the first 2 being Sheringham and the
Ibérico Ibrahim (1964-), French footballer
