Did upper body give Ribeiro the upper hand?

An indication of how tight the call on Lucas Ribeiro Costa was for Mamelodi Sundowns' second goal against Kaizer Chiefs is reflected in the differing views on the matter by a refereeing expert and two former footballers 

Sundowns show grit to come from behind and snatch a 2-1 victory at a FNB Stadium on Saturday, but the match was not without its controversial moments. 

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However, some section of the football community have argued that Ribeiro could possibly have been from an offside position at the team he received a pass from Rivaldo Coetzee to set up Rayners for a goal that would prove to be the winner.

Speaking on SABC Sport's SoccerZone on Monday evening, retired referee Victor Hlungwani explained why Ribeiro was onside.

"When he draws the line, we can see that there is a leg of Miguel putting Lucas onside. 

"Look at Miguel's leg putting Lucas onside. We see that [Marcello] Allende is offside, but' it's not an offence to be in an offside position. We can see Rayners is offside, but it's not an offence to be in an offside position.

"When the ball is played, you can see that the player is from an onside position and he makes a cross. A goal is scored. This goal was scored correctly in line with the Laws of the Game.

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However, former Orlando Pirates striker and analyst Phumudzo Manenzhe has presented a counter-argument while doing analysis of the incident on SuperSport TV's Extra Time, also on Monday evening.

He explained that although Miguel's and Ribeiro's feet were in line, the Sundowns attacker's upper body was over the line.

Ultimately, though, he conceded it was tight call to make.

"[Let's say] both of us are on the line, we are on the same line, but if I do this [lean forward], why do you see?

"Our feet are on the same line, we agree that the feet are on the line, but now if I do this [lean forward], what happens?

"Yes, they are in a straight line and when it's tight, you give the benefit [of the doubt] to the attacking team, but hence I gave that demonstration that if the feet are on the same line...

"But if I lean forward, then it means I'm slightly ahead. So, it's a difficult one to call."

Matthew Booth, seated next to Manenzhe, added, "If you look at Costa, his feet are on the line, but his upper body and head are slightly over the line. The linesman is not in the best position either."

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