Daniel Farke, the manager of Leeds United, responded to the debate surrounding Wilfried Gnonto’s goal against Middlesbrough.
Leeds’ 4-3 victory over Boro at the Riverside Stadium guaranteed that they will control their own destiny. The Whites have taken back their position in the top two and, should they triumph over Queens Park Rangers on Friday night, they will have the opportunity to extend their lead above Ipswich Town.
After a brief counterattack by Michael Carrick’s team in the seventh minute, Isaiah Jones bundled the ball into the back of the net to spark a brisk start to the match between the two northern sides. After more than 600 seconds, Leeds was ahead.
United won 2-1 thanks to a penalty from Crysencio Summerville—who scored two goals that evening—and a goal from Patrick Bamford, who was playing against his former team.
Before the halftime siren went off, there were two more goals, with the highly effective Emmanuel Latte Lath scoring from a challenging angle. However, nine minutes later, the Italian forward’s previously noted attempt negated all of his hard work.
Only the two goals were scored in the second half as the game somewhat subsided. Shortly after the hour, Summerville finished his brace with a curling effort into the far-hand corner. A few minutes later, Latte Lath scored a stunning header from a lofted through ball, assisted by Alex Gilbert’s right boot, to lob Illan Meslier and make it 3-4.
Though Gnonto’s goal has incited uproar, the Dutch winger’s second goal proved to be the decisive factor.
Wilfried Gnotno’s controversial goal
Summerville played the 20-year-old in behind, and he coolly placed the ball past Seny Dieng in the goal. Despite Matt Clarke, a defender for Middlesbrough, making a strong plea for the offside flag to be raised, the assistant referee determined that the Italian was in front of Boro’s final man when the ball was given to him.
Replays, however, seem to indicate otherwise; this still photo from Sky Sports seems to depict Gnonto as being offside when Summerville passes to him.
Daniel Farke’s reaction to the controversial Gnonto goal
Had the 20-year-old’s goal not stood, then Leeds would still have been a point behind Ipswich, having played a game more than them. This would have amped up the pressure on them for their Friday night trip to London, where a win would surely have been a must.
After the match, Farke was quizzed about his side’s third goal, and he said, as per Leeds Live: “In the sense of the game, we would have said let it go years ago.
“If it was offside, we can say 52 went against us. Not sure if Bamford was offside in the second half when his goal was disallowed. I need to watch it back. I’m not sure if we are owed something. All the mistakes have gone against us this season.”
An illustration of why VAR should benefit the Championship is the Gnonto goal.
Undoubtedly, the Video Assistant Referee system has some shortcomings. Sometimes it feels that the official in the middle of the pitch is losing their power, that they have no control over the people in the far-off booths who are viewing slow-motion replays.
This weekend, VAR has harmed multiple second-tier teams in various ways. Boro would argue that if the system had been in place, they would have won the match in a draw, while Coventry City would have preferred to have the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United without it.
Naturally, Boro will feel badly treated, but so will Ipswich and Leicester City. These two points could be crucial in preventing one of those teams from receiving automatic promotion. In situations like these, video assistant refereeing (VAR) can help smooth out any kinks in the match, but it has drawbacks that make many EFL fans opposed to it.
