Mark Clattenburg breaks silence on Man City controversial winner vs Wolves in new verdict

Mark Clattenburg, the former Premier League referee, has defended Chris Kavanagh's decision to award Manchester City's controversial winning goal against Wolves. The match ended 2-1 in favour of City, with a late header from John Stones initially disallowed due to Bernardo Silva being offside and allegedly interfering with Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa.

However, after a VAR check and reviewing the goal on the pitchside monitor, Kavanagh reversed his decision. This sparked controversy, with ex-City players Micah Richards and Daniel Sturridge expressing their belief that Silva had "affected the play".

Despite this, Clattenburg stood by Kavanagh's decision in his column for the Daily Mail. He wrote: "Chris Kavanagh was completely correct in making sure the winner stood. Yes, Bernardo Silva was in an offside position when John Stones crashed his header beyond Jose Sa, but there's more to it.

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"You have to pose yourself the same questions Kavanagh will have asked himself at the pitchside monitor. Firstly, was Silva blocking Sa's line of vision? The answer is no, because when you see the freeze frame, he's dived out of the way to make sure of that.

"Secondly, does Silva impact Sa's ability to play the ball at the precise moment that Stones makes contact? Again, the answer is no, as the header goes straight through the goalkeeper

"It was telling that there were no protests from Sa or any Wolves players. It was only once Gary O'Neil and his coaching staff had watched the replay that they hoped to find a reason - any reason - to get the goal disallowed."

The Premier League match centre account also took to social media to clarify the decision-making process: "Stones' goal was disallowed on-field due to Bernardo Silva being in an offside position and in the goalkeeper's line of vision," they explained. "The VAR deemed Bernardo Silva wasn't in the line of vision and had no impact on the goalkeeper and recommended an on-field review. The referee overturned his original decision and a goal was awarded."