Former referees chief Keith Hackett sympathises with Nigel Pearson's complaints after Bristol City's 2-2 draw with West Brom, claiming the Robins were "unfortunate" not to get a late offside call which would have disallowed Adam Reach's equaliser.
In the closing stages of the contest at Ashton Gate, with City leading 2-1, a pass is played into Jake Livermore whose first-time touch is into the path of Reach to convert. However, the player making the assist appears to be ever so slightly ahead of the Robins defence when he receives the initial pass.
After the game, Pearson said: "Livermore was offside by the way. For the goal, he was offside. You can’t expect the officials to get you over the line quite frankly. Sometimes I might expect it the other way round but I don’t expect that."
Former Premier League referees chief and PGMOL general manager Hackett, who officiated for 22 years at Football League, Premier League and international level, agrees that in the moment, Livermore looked offside but also backed the decision of the assistant referee who didn't raise his flag and, ultimately, had the best view on the pitch.
"I’d be saying he’s very close to offside," Hackett told West Brom News. "He’s come from an offside position, he’s actually very close, therefore he has become active in that pass. I think they’re unfortunate that they [Bristol City] didn’t get an offside call there.
"He’s in a good position the assistant, and it may be the kid in the middle that could be playing him on, I think you’ve got to go with the fact that he’s not offside because the assistant referee is absolutely brilliantly positioned and he would have flagged it."
Pearson's view was certainly supported by Jamie Mackie on EFL on Quest, in reviewing the game, with the former QPR and Plymlouth Argyle striker agreeing Livermore had returned from an offside position.
"It's offside. Livermore, with that touch, I think it was for him but it ends up in Reach's path," Mackie said. "In the only defence for the linesman, he's about eight deep at the back end of the line and he's looking across. So it's a tough one for him but he was offside."
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