Mark Clattenburg breaks silence on Man City's controversial winner against Wolves

Manchester City were 2-1 winners over Wolves on Sunday thanks to a controversial John Stones goal, which was eventually awarded after an offside Bernardo Silva was deemed not to be interfering with play

Mark Clattenburg, the former Premier League referee, has backed Chris Kavanagh's decision to award Manchester City's controversial winning goal against Wolves. The City team secured a 2-1 victory over Wolves due to a late header from John Stones, initially ruled out as Bernardo Silva was considered offside and interfering with Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa.

However, Kavanagh reversed his decision after reviewing the goal on the pitchside monitor following a VAR check. This decision sparked a lot of controversy, with ex-City players Micah Richards and Daniel Sturridge confessing they believed Silva had "affected the play".

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

He further explained: "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."

Lastly, he added: "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.", reports the Mirror.

"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 also took to social media to clarify the situation, explaining: "Stones' goal was disallowed on-field due to Bernardo Silva being in an offside position and in the goalkeeper's line of vision," but later added, "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."