I had no doubt in my mind when Jude Bellingham opened the scoring against Manchester United in Houston, the Real Madrid midfielder’s delicate chip over Andre Onana should have been ruled offside.
The England international has now admitted that he may have made his run for the goal too early.
And, anyone that has seen the highlights I’m sure will agree that Aaron Wan-Bissaka doesn’t play him onside.
It was pre-season, too, so nobody is really going to lose their mind over it. No VAR meant no argument and there was enough Madrid players throwing handbags at Lisandro Martinez, most notably Bellingham.
Side note: I can’t help but admire how Licha, The Butcher, plays every friendly like it’s a competitive fixture.
Nobody can blame Bellingham for celebrating his first goal in a Madrid shirt, even though it was clearly offside.
It was a sublime finish as the Spanish giants took advantage of United being reduced to 10 men following Kobbie Mainoo’s early injury.
After signing a £115 million deal from Borussia Dortmund last month, I can see why he was happy to get off the mark. The Los Blancos faithful will hope it’s the first of many.
“I haven’t seen it back yet,” Bellingham said after the match in Houston, as quoted by the Daily Mail.
“It did feel as though I went a little bit early. These days you have to play to the whistle because you never know. As I was running over, I saw the linesman and his flag stayed down so I just carried on with the celebration.
“If it is offside, so be it, but it is still a goal.”
United were chasing Bellingham from his time at Birmingham City, but he opted to establish himself in the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund instead.
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