Watch: Was Man City's controversial late winner vs. Wolves legal?
John Stones produced another decisive goal for Manchester City on Sunday, nodding home from a corner kick in the 95th minute to clinch a 2-1 win over Wolverhampton.
Bernardo Silva was suspected of interfering with Wolves 'keeper Jose Sa while in an offside position, but match official Chris Kavanagh determined the goal was good after reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor.
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JOHN STONES WINS IT IN THE FINAL SECONDS FOR MANCHESTER CITY. INCREDIBLE. pic.twitter.com/JsO025yDeF
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) October 20, 2024
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John Stones SCORES!!
— FuboCanada 🇨🇦 (@fuboTVCanada) October 20, 2024
⚽ 1-2 Wolverhampton vs Manchester City
WATCH EVERY GOAL 👉 https://t.co/2w98QqADfX#PL #PremierLeague pic.twitter.com/1vYPAVk8Vk
By rule, Silva couldn't have been offside while the corner kick was taken, leaving Kavanagh to decide whether the midfielder was blocking Sa's line of vision in an offside position when Stones sent his header goal-bound. The referee also had to determine whether Silva committed a standard foul.
But replays showed Silva moving out of the way and Sa in the ready position as Stones made contact.
(Courtesy: @PLMatchCentre)
Kavanagh was summoned to review the incident because the VAR didn't agree with the linesman's offside ruling.
The match official is required to provide input when there's a subjective call.
Despite the evidence, Wolves boss Gary O'Neil fumed at the decision, saying there was a "subconscious" bias against his club.
"There's no chance that people are purposely against Wolves. But is there something in the subconscious around decision-making or, without even knowing it, are you more likely to give it to Manchester City than Wolves?" O'Neil told reporters.
"Manchester City scoring a last-minute winner is a big thing. I might be miles off, but if I had to upset someone in a street and there was a little guy and a big guy, I'm upsetting a little guy. Nothing against little guys."
Stones famously equalized for City in the 98th minute of last month's 2-2 draw with title rivals Arsenal and popped up again with winless Wolves threatening to take a point off the reigning champions.
Wolves took a shock lead in the seventh minute when Jorgen Strand Larsen tapped home Nelson Semedo's cross-field pass. It was one of just four times the hosts found themselves in City's area.
Josko Gvardiol equalized in the 33rd minute with a long-range strike that Sa couldn't handle.
The win leaves City in second place with 20 points from eight matches. Liverpool are one point ahead at the top of the table after beating Chelsea 2-1.
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