Why Galatasaray goal vs Manchester United should have been ruled out by VAR

Hakim Ziyech's first goal against Manchester United should have been ruled out by VAR, according to the laws of the game.

Galatasaray and United played out a dramatic 3-3 draw in their penultimate Champions League group stage match on Wednesday evening. Erik ten Hag's side were 2-0 and 3-1 up at different points before conceding sloppy goals.

Following excellent finishes from Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes, Moroccan midfielder Ziyech, who played for United boss Ten Hag at Ajax, pulled a goal back when his weak free-kick snuck past a wrong-footed Andre Onana. But upon looking back at the goal, it seemingly should have been ruled out.

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As Ziyech goes to take the set-piece, Galatasaray striker Mauro Icardi is stood right next to Rasmus Hojlund in the United wall. But according to UEFA rules, that was an illegal move from the Italian.

UEFA rules state: "If the defending team make a defensive wall of three players or more, all attacking team players must be at least 1m (1 yd) from the wall until the ball is in play."

Icardi is quite clearly less than one metre away from the end of United's four-man wall, meaning that referee Jose Maria Sanchez should have awarded the Reds an indirect free-kick. Had he not noticed the infringement, VAR should have alerted him of the issue.

UEFA rules state: "The VAR team will check all match-changing situations, but will only intervene for clear and obvious mistakes." United renewed their two-goal lead shortly after half-time when Scott McTominay swept home an excellent move down the right, but Ten Hag's men crumbled again.

Onana let another weak Ziyech