‘Bristol City goal right to stand vs West Brom after footage I’ve seen’ – Ex-PGMOL chief
Keith Hackett saw no reason for Bristol City’s opening goal to be disallowed against West Brom.
West Brom’s 2025 ended with a 2-0 defeat to Bristol City, with Ryan Mason now looking like he could be sacked before the new year.
Anis Mehmeti gave the Robins the lead at The Hawthorns after four minutes, before Ross McCrorie doubled their advantage after 22 minutes.
However, Albion were left furious that the first goal was allowed to stand, with a Bristol City player in an offside position.
Emill Riss Jakobsen deemed not to be interfering with play
To go 1-0 down after four minutes was bad enough for West Brom, but even worse when you feel as though the goal should have been disallowed.
Mehmeti’s strike from the edge of the box went under Emil Riss Jakobsen, who seemed to jump over the ball at the last second, but the goal stood.
When speaking exclusively to West Brom News, Hackett believes that there was no reason for the decision to be any different.
He said: “The referee in this situation has to determine if the player in an offside position has interfered with an opponent. In this situation, the player is clearly in an offside position
“The law states you are interfering with an opponent by preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision or challenging an opponent for the ball.
Or, attempting to play a ball which is close when this action impacts on an opponent or
making an obvious action which clearly impacts the ability of an opponent to play the ball.
“Frankly, none of the above criteria has been met to rule out the goal. The goalkeeper was clearly caught out of position.”
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Mehmeti could have been sent off vs West Brom
Not long after he gave his side the lead, Mehmeti could easily have seen a red card.
After a coming together in the middle, Callum Styles went down holding his head, with replays showing that the Bristol City forward used an elbow.
It was yards away from the referee, who clearly saw it as a natural movement of the arm.
Had the Albania international seen red, it would have been a very different game, and potentially a very different outcome.
Nevertheless, after yet another league defeat, Mason’s future at West Brom is under serious threat.
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