Mistake Admitted by Referee!

By Matthew Jones
October 2 2002

Referee Rene Temmink admits that the goal scored by Alan Shearer against Juventus was actually a "fair" goal and the offside descision should not have been. A goal that could have rescued the Toon in turn.

Referee Rene Temmink has admitted he was wrong to disallow the 'goal' by Alan Shearer which could have rescued United from defeat by Juventus.
Shearer headed home a 69th-minute cross by Gary Speed to score what he thought was an equaliser in Turin's Stadio delle Alpi.

Referee Temmink agreed with his assistant's ruling that Kieron Dyer was interfering with play when standing in an offside position as Speed played the ball. An un-popular descision.

Television replays showed that Dyer clearly was not involved in the move - and Shearer claims the referee soon admitted his error.

"The referee said I wasn't offside and that he had made a mistake," said the United skipper.

"The flag went up for Kieron Dyer but he was only offside if it had come off the keeper. I'm thankful that the referee admitted he had made a mistake but it's not much use to us now."

Manager, Sir Bobby Robson added: "Kieron Dyer wasn't in an active position - but that's the type of luck you often get in football."