Why Galatasaray’s first goal against Man United should have been ruled out

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Hakim Ziyech’s free-kick goal for Galatasaray against Manchester United in the 3-3 draw shouldn’t have stood, according to reports.

Manchester United were pegged back from being two goals ahead in Istanbul twice with two free-kicks from former Chelsea and Ajax winger Hakim Ziyech and a stunner from Muhammed Kerem Aktürkoğlu meant the game ended in a draw.

Erik ten Hag’s United were in total control in the first half before Ziyech struck his free-kick which flew past Andre Onana who stepped to the near post before the Moroccan fired the ball to the far post.

The ball flew past the former Inter Milan goalkeeper, who had a poor game, but it has emerged that the goal shouldn’t have stood.

Galatasaray rule infrigement

According to a post on X from BeIN Sport, Ziyech’s free-kick should not have stood due to a rule infringement from the Galatasaray players who were in the wall.

The goal shouldn’t have stood because as per the rules, if three or more players are in a defensive wall, all attacking players must remain at least one metre from the ball till it is in play but the Galatasaray players in the wall were much too close to the United wall.

For the goal, United had a four-man wall so this rule should have come into effect as a Galatasaray player was just 61cm from the wall, which is an infringement.

This is the latest example of United suffering from a poor refereeing decision.

United’s refereeing struggles

United’s struggles with referees has been a consistent issue for the Red Devils with decision seemingly going against them.

Anthony Martial’s penalty award against Everton at Goodison Park, which took the game away from The Toffees, was correctly awarded only after the Frenchman was first booked for diving by the referee.

This latest mess-up from a UEFA referee, which was Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez this time, in a crucial Champions League game has been a theme with officials on European nights.

Marcus Rashford was incorrectly sent off for the Red Devils against FC Copenhagen in the 4-3 defeat, which drew the ire of the United fanbase for the harshness of the decision. The awarding of Ziyech’s goal is the latest error in a long line of mistakes from match officials.