Luciano Acosta was onside; let’s stop debating it

A burgeoning debate about the end of D.C. United’s thrilling victory over Orlando City SC is the positioning of Luciano Acosta when Wayne Rooney hit the ball; some people think that the goal should have been nullified due to Acosta being offside.

First of all, if you look at the replay, JC Rivero watches the cross, watches the ball go in, looks at his assistant referee, and then calls the goal. So by the very actions of the ref, he called a goal, meaning the offside had to be clear enough to overrule; to repeat, the burden of proof is on the overturning.

But let’s look at the video (above) from almost exactly even with Luciano Acosta the second after Wayne Rooney’s cross was hit:

There is a line under Lucho’s feet, and it seems to run to right under the feet of the last Orlando City defender. Lucho has timed his run perfectly and is onside. So let’s stop talking about it.