Mings slams ‘nonsense’ offside rule after Man City defeat

Tyrone Mings has slammed what he sees as a “nonsense” offside rule after Aston Villa’s loss to Manchester City on Wednesday.

Villa were beaten 2-0 on Wednesday, with Bernardo Silva opening the scoring after 79 minutes before Gabriel Jesus added a late penalty.

The first goal was a controversial one, though, as midfielder Rodri came from an offside position to steal the ball from Mings after a header from Silva. 

Rodri then passed the ball back to the Portugal international, who went on to fire past Emiliano Martinez, prompting protests from Villa boss Dean Smith.

The Villa manager was eventually sent off for his reaction as he went on to  later slam what he saw as a “farcical” decision.

However,  former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher says Villa’s frustration should be directed at the International Football Association Board (IFAB), not VAR, as the referee correctly interpreted the rule.

According to Gallagher, Mings being in control of the ball allows Rodri to challenge him from an offside position, which is exactly what happened in the run-up to the goal.

And, after the match, Mings took to Twitter to express his bewilderment with the rule while admitting that he should have just hoofed the ball away anyway.

“Never even heard of that rule,” he tweeted. “Just let players stand offside, then run back & tackle you? In hindsight I should’ve cleared it, 100%, but didn’t even know that was the case. Nonsense.”

Smith was left confused as well once the rule was explained to him, although he doesn’t blame Manchester City for taking advantage of the situation. 

“I would expect my players to put the ball in the back of the net as well, so it’s nothing against Manchester City players at all,” he said.

“I just don’t understand the ruling. If somebody is offside and they’re taking advantage of that offside position by tackling from behind, then surely that’s offside?

“I don’t think there’s anyone in this stadium apart from the officials who think that’s a goal. That’s why we’re so frustrated.

“Manchester City had a lot of chances, they’re a good team and we never broke their possession up as good as we normally do.

“I thought we started the second-half really slowly, but they missed the chances. They didn’t put the ball in the back of the net and we got some really good blocks in.

“Our goalkeeper made some really good saves. So to lose the game on two decisions like that is very tough to take.”