why TFC’s first goal in Strasbourg was disallowed by the referee

A meeting against a direct opponent for maintenance. This Sunday, January 29, in Strasbourg (20th day), the footballers of the TFC know that they are playing an important meeting, in order to secure their place in Ligue 1.

After a dominated start to the match, the Toulouse team found the fault in the 18th minute. Or so they think. Branco van den Boomen places a first shot in the area, pushed back by the goalkeeper, the ball bounces off Thijs Dallinga in confusion, before van den Boomen sees the leather come back on him, to put it back in the net with a powerful strike.

Immediately, the assistant referee raises his flag to signal an offside. The central referee appeals to the VAR, and validates this first decision. Explanations.

It is an illegal position of Thijs Dallinga, which is at this time sanctioned by the referee. It is indeed thanks to the rebound of the Dutch striker that van den Boomen recovers the ball and strikes to score.

But was the referee right to signal Dalinga offside when a Strasbourg defender, in this case Maxime Le Marchand, was behind the Toulouse number 27 and seemed to cover him?

The answer is yes. Indeed, the Strasbourg goalkeeper had advanced to go out in front of van den Boomen. He thus positions himself in front of Le Marchand. Thus, the goalkeeper having left, it is a bit as if, if we speak of a strict post, the latter took the role of last defender, and Maxime Le Marchand that of goalkeeper.

As stipulated in Law 11 of the Laws of the Game, it is forbidden for a player to receive a ball while he is between an opposing player positioned in penultimate position (in 99.9% of cases, a defender) and one in last position (in 99.9% of cases, the keeper).

But in fact, whether the defender is positioned in front of the goalkeeper or vice versa has no influence on the decision. Thijs Dallin was therefore well offside.