Mike Dean major update on Isidor Sunderland controversy: 'I made some enquiries'

01/25/2025 10:51 AM

Sunderland striker Wilson Isidor rightly had his goal ruled out following controversy during his side’s win away at Derby County, Mike Dean has said.

Having missed two penalties in their goalless draw with Burnley in their previous outing, Isidor thought he had made up for that against the Rams on Tuesday (14 January).

A long ball forward from Jobe Bellingham was brought down by Enzo Le Fee, who then played it off for the striker to fire in off the underside the bar, seemingly making it 2-0.

But after several minutes of discussion, and despite no flag from the linesman, the goal was eventually ruled out for offside, leaving the Sunderland man shocked.

Now Dean has explained why the goal was ruled out, with the former Premier League referee telling Sky Sports Soccer Saturday (12:59pm): “It is the right decision. I made some enquiries this week because I knew we were gonna talk about it. When the ball’s played down the middle I think it’s Isidor’s offside in the middle. He doesn’t look offside but he is offside… I’m led to believe he was eight centimetres offside.

“Because he’s in an offside position when he goes over to the play and scores the goal, he’s impacted the defender number 32 of Derby so he can’t stop him then challenging for the ball. That’s the reason why it was disallowed. The reason it took so long is the referee was talking to the Derby players because they wanted handball, which it isn’t.

“So by the time he’s talked about ‘Handball! Handball! Handball!’ then the assistant referee’s said ‘did the 32 impact him?’ He says ‘yes he had’, then they give the offside.”

After Clinton Morrison then argued that it was the Derby man who had collided with Isidor while questioning how an eight cm difference could be spotted, Dean added: “I asked the question because he looks onside but apparently the thing that they use in the Championship is called Second Spectrum which then tells them if he’s on or off… it’s like a VAR thing they can use for their facts and figures for the referees and the assessors to look at…

“The assistant referee doesn’t have to flag all the time to communicate with the referee, he has communicated, it’s took a long time, a long process, and it could have been done a lot quicker, that’s the only downside… but it’s the correct decision I’m told.”

Sunderland fans will still want answers over Isidor controversy

Football Insider Verdict

It would be a surprise if many supporters of the Black Cats had their frustrations eased thanks to Dean’s frustrations here.

While Dean claims the linesman does not need to flag, if he does not then fans inside the ground are not going exactly what is going, something Sunderland followers will have been desperate for here.

Indeed being kept in the dark like this is not fair on supporters who spend so much time and money on attending matches as well.

Beyond that, while the second spectrum may have been able to confirm Isidor was in an offside position after the game, such refereeing aids are not supposed to be in operation in the Championship.

Sunderland fans may therefore still want to know just how the linesman was able to spot such a tight offside, and make that decision without signalling it at any point in such a long process.

This therefore is an incident that will surely need to be looked into rather deeply, even if it may have ultimately led to the right decision.

In other news, Sunderland are among the Championship clubs interested in a Celtic player.

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