Former referee has his say on Bruno Fernandes' controversial goal against Manchester City

After Bruno Fernandes' controversial goal on January 14 helped Manchester United register a fantastic 2-1 victory over arch-rivals Manchester City, former referee Chris Foy has had his say on the incident. Foy sees no reason why the goal should not have stood as he believes that there was no interference from Marcus Rashford nor did any other Manchester United player obstruct the vision of any Manchester City player.

Chris Foy explains why Bruno Fernandes' goal was not offside

Former referee Chris Foy wrote a detailed column on the Daily Mail's website to explain why he believes that the on-field referees made the right call to give Bruno Fernandes his goal. However, he did admit that he could see why opinions were divided over this incident.

"It's no surprise that opinions are divided over Manchester United's equalizer but I can see absolutely no reason why the goal should not have stood," wrote Foy. "Assistant Darren Cann raised his flag after Bruno Fernandes put the ball in the net because Marcus Rashford had been in an offside position when the ball was played through. Referee Stuart Attwell consulted Cann and between them, they agreed that Rashford had not touched the ball nor had any impact on a City player."

Foy then referred to the rule book to defend his opinion on why he believes it was the right decision for Fernandes' goal to stand. "The offside law, Law 11, says a player can be penalized if he's interfering with an opponent by making an obvious action 'which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball,'" added Foy in his column.

The Manchester derby was an extremely important game for both Manchester clubs as this win has helped Manchester United to move just one point off their arch-rivals in third place. As for the Cityzens, this defeat means that they are dealt a major blow in their Premier League title race with leaders Arsenal, who are now five points clear of Pep Guardiola's side with a game in hand. If the Gunners were to defeat Tottenham on Sunday, they could move eight points clear of second-placed Manchester City.