Isak denied ‘worst offside decision ever’ goal after VAR blunder as fans ‘can’t figure out how it was ruled out’

ALEXANDER ISAK was bizarrely denied a goal for Sweden after a shocking error from VAR.

The Newcastle ace was in action for his nation against Azerbaijan during a 6-0 thrashing in the Uefa Nations League.

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Tottenham star Dejan Kulusevski had opened the scoring after 10 minutes before Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres made it 3-0 before the break.

The ex-Coventry player quickly turned supplier as he picked up the ball in stoppage time and slipped a pass to Isak who carried the ball down the left wing before cutting in to fire into the bottom left corner.

But despite no original suggestion of offside, VAR bizarrely ruled out the goal.

The judgment was clearly wrong as Isak, 25, was well inside when Gyokeres played the ball to him.

But it turned out that VAR had drawn the lines for Isak at the wrong time.

Instead, VAR had strangely drawn the lines from Isak when Gyokeres, 26, had initially picked up the move in his OWN HALF.

The decision left fans and even journalists confused, with Siavoush Fallahi writing on social media: “I’m crying, they called Isak offside when the ball went to Gyokeres in the middle.”

One fan said: “Possibly the worst offside decision I’ve ever seen, I still can’t work out how Isak’s goal was disallowed.”

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Another added: “They drew the line at Isak for the pass to Gyokeres.”

Another said: “We need a VAR check for VAR.”

Sweden went on to win the game 6-0, with Gyokeres scoring two more and Kulusevski picking up another, while Isak also missed a penalty shortly after the break.

After the match, Isak revealed that he and his teammates had been involved in an argument with the VAR officials over the decision in the players’ tunnel at half-time.

According to Sweden Heraldhe said, “How is that possible? Seriously. It’s almost the worst thing I’ve seen.

“Of course I’m happy that we’re winning, but I score a goal that should be allowed, so it’s clear that you get annoyed.

“I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like this at this level when I’ve been involved.

“You’ve seen a lot of fouls, but this one was quite harsh. The VAR referees were in the players’ tunnel at half-time.

“We argued with them, but they stuck to their decision that they had made the right call.”

National coach Jon Dahl Tomasson was equally angry, adding: “I was furious, the whole team was furious. I don’t understand. For me it was a goal, but we can’t change it.”

The game ensured Sweden won their Nations League C Group 1 with five wins and a draw, while Azerbaijan finished bottom of the group without a win.

Sweden is the only nation in the top 30 leagues in Europe that does not use VAR.

After being written into the IFAB rules in 2018, Allsvenskan remains an exception by refusing to implement it.

Ola Thews, vice-chairman of Swedish giants AIK’s biggest supporters’ organisation, ASK, said of VAR in August: “VAR is a symbol of modern, commercialized-to-destruction football.”

Thews also believes that VAR “ruins the euphoria” of scoring a goal.

In England, Premier League bosses fear they will have to go without semi-automated offside technology until next season.

Howard Webb had claimed last month that assistant VAR errors fell by 80 per cent before Michael Oliver’s high-profile blunder during Manchester United’s clash at West Ham.

On-field referee David Coote had initially waved play on before being recalled with Matthijs de Ligt accused of molesting Danny Ings after a meeting in the penalty area.

The decision to then award a penalty with the off-field recommendation was maligned at the time, before Webb admitted it was “on balance, probably not a penalty”.