Exclusive: Morgan Rogers in ‘very close’ incident as Aston Villa beat Club Brugge
Morgan Rogers had a close shave as Aston Villa beat Club Brugge to qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday night.
After winning the first leg of their round-of-16 tie in Belgium 3-1, Unai Emery and his men managed to finish off the job with a comprehensive 3-0 victory on home soil this week to set up a last-eight meeting with Paris Saint-Germain.
Marco Asensio scored twice for Aston Villa in the second half to wrap up a superb victory with Ian Maatsen nabbing his first goal for the West Midlands club in the 57th minute.
Rogers just onside amid Aston Villa drama
Maatsen’s goal took a while to be made official.
Around two minutes passed between the Dutchman hitting the back of the net and the big screens at Villa Park confirming that he’d scored his first goal in claret and blue.
Keith Hackett says that the new semi-automated offside system was in use to confirm Rogers was onside before Maatsen’s goal.
| Remaining teams in Champions League | |
| Arsenal | Atletico Madrid/Real Madrid |
| PSG | Aston Villa |
| Barcelona | Borussia Dortmund |
| Bayern Munich | Inter Milan |
“They are using the semi-automated offside system, using special ball technology and cameras along with high-speed cameras installed in the stadium,” Hackett told Villa News.
“With a minimum of 29 points on every player, the system using AI accurately shows the position of all the players on the field of play.
“The system does not show the lines but should produce a still animation supporting the decision made by the system and VAR.“
Why did it take two minutes to decide if Rogers was onside?
Hackett added that it must have been a tight call after Marcus Rashford played in Rogers, who was hanging on the last line of Brugge’s defence in the penalty area.
It took a while for the goal to be allowed to stand and the ex-Premier League referee claims that’s because VAR still needs to check the context surrounding the goal and any potential offside.
“It must have been very close,” the former PGMOL general manager added.
“The system only confirms that a player is in an offside position. They then have to determine that he is active, interfering with play, interfering with an opponent or gaining an advantage.”