Why John Stones’ late Man City winner was awarded against Wolves

There were three distinct cheers in the space of three chaotic minutes at Molineux on Sunday afternoon.

The first burst of joy came from the travelling Manchester City fans in celebration of John Stones heading a corner beyond Jose Sa in the 95th minute of a contest which had been level at 1-1. The home Wolverhampton Wanderers crowd quickly erupted once referee Chris Kavanagh signalled for offside, chalking off a potential winner.

City ended the game with one final surge of euphoria as a pitch-side VAR review concluded that Stones’ winner would, in fact, stand. After all the confusion and delusion which has been spewed in the aftermath of City’s 2-1 triumph, here’s a closer look at exactly what happened.

Stones had already beaten the air in delight and been smothered by his teammates by the time Kavanagh spotted his assistant’s raised flag. Constantine Hatzidakis – the official who allegedly elbowed Liverpool’s Andy Robertson in April 2023 – ordered that City’s late winner be chalked off because Bernardo Silva was deemed to be interfering with play from offside position.

The niggling midfielder was jostling with Wolves keeper Jose Sa as Phil Foden swung the stoppage-time corner into the box right up until the point that the ball landed on Stones’ forehead. Bernardo’s evasive action would prove crucial when the replays were inspected.

As the Premier League’s official ‘Match Centre’ X account explained shortly after the final whistle, VAR Stuart Attwell deemed that Bernardo “wasn’t in the line of vision and had no impact on the goalkeeper” when Stones made contact with the ball.

No player can be offside directly from a corner, so Bernardo’s positioning only becomes relevant when Stones takes aim. As Jack Grealish pointed out on the touchline during the contest by holding a level palm at his chest, his diminutive teammate had ducked out of the way of the ball and Sa.

Kavanagh was directed towards the touchline monitor because this was a subjective decision. There is no doubt that Bernardo was in an offside position, but the VAR wanted the on-pitch official to determine whether he was interfering with play or not. After a quick glance at a couple of frames, Kavanagh awarded Stones’ winner – much to the fury of Gary O’Neil.

Wolves have suffered at the hands of VAR so often that manager Gary O’Neil wondered aloud whether this controversy was a conspiracy. “Is there something in the subconscious around the decision-making?” the winless boss asked. “Without even knowing it, are you more likely to give it to Manchester City than Wolves?”

O’Neil added: “I can categorically tell you that they definitely don’t mean to. I just know from a human point of view, it’s tough. If I had to upset someone in a street and there was a little guy and a big guy, I’m going to upset the little guy. Maybe there is something that edges it in that direction when it’s really tight.”

Pep Guardiola, unsurprisingly, insisted that the correct decision had been reached. “Bernardo isn’t disturbing the position,” City’s manager said. “In the moment what happened Sa had the perfect vision. The taker from Phil and the header were magnificent.”

Most on social media sided with the champions.

But not everyone was convinced.

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