Despite finding the back of the net twice during AC Milan’s 3-3 draw against Sassuolo at the Stadio Mapei – Citta del Tricolore on Sunday, Nigerian winger Samuel Chukwueze saw his name missing from the scorer’s chart as his two goals were chalked off by the Virtual Assistance Referee on both occasions.
According to Football Italia, Chukwueze’s disallowed goal against Sassuolo was perhaps the tightest offside call in Serie A history, as a portion of his shoulder was caught out.
Having gone down by two goals, Milan thought they had pulled one goal back through the Super Eagles winger in the 18 minutes when a cross from the left side was headed back across goal and into the far corner by the Nigerian, though the offside flag went up and though the call was marginal it was confirmed by VAR.
The replay suggests that the winger was called offside because he was leaning slightly beyond the last man with his shoulder, though it is quite difficult to tell from the angle.
In the 63rd minute, Chukwueze had the ball in the net again and this time it was with an outstanding outside-of-the-boot shot that rattled in off the far post after his run in behind was found.
Again offside came to the rescue of Sassuolo as VAR chalked it off, and this time it was even very difficult to see what the VAR team saw in the booth even if the semi-automatic system should ensure the right decision was always reached.
A frustrated Chukwueze was however substituted two minutes after and was replaced with Christian Pulisic.
In the end, Luka Jovic and Noah Okafor would score to earn the Rossoneri a 3-3 draw, but the stats and moments like the above show just how close they were to a famous comeback win.
