REVEALED: Why Giroud’s goal was given despite being in an offside position
Olivier Giroud scored the only goal of the game between Chelsea and Atletico Madrid at the National Arena Stadium in Bucharest, Romania.
Giroud scored a 68th minute overhead kick to seal the win for Chelsea and put Thomas Tuchel’s side in a commanding position ahead of the second leg.
Giroud’s goal was initially ruled out for offside, but a lengthy VAR check overturned the decision, and the goal was given.
Indeed, Giroud was in an offside position, and the offside decision would have been correct, only that the ball played to him was hit by an Atletico player.
The VAR check found that the ball hit Mario Hermoso of Atletico Madrid and not Chelsea’s Mason Mount before getting to Giroud. With the ball being touched by Hermoso before reaching Giroud, it then meant that Giroud wasn’t offside.
The finish from the Frenchman was spectacular, as he now scored his 6th Champions League goal of the season.