Championship play-off controversy erupts as Wrexham denied by ‘offside’ goal | Football | Sport
Wrexham were controversially denied a place in the Championship play-offs as Hull City snuck into sixth place on a dramatic final day. A win over Middlesbrough would have been enough to give Wrexham a chance at promotion to the Premier League, but they were held to a 2-2 draw despite overturning an early deficit to lead at one stage.
That would’ve been enough for Wrexham if Hull were beaten by Norwich City, with Derby County losing at the hands of Sheffield United. It looked to have been on the cards when Mo Toure fired the Canaries ahead before the break. However, a second-half brace from Oli McBurnie turned it around for the Tigers and bumped them up to sixth in the final Championship table.
There was a big hint of controversy in McBurnie’s second goal, though, with the Scotland international seemingly a touch offside in the build-up to the decisive strike.
Sky Sports News pundit Clinton Morrison confidently declared that McBurnie was ‘two yards’ ahead of the last defender.
Mike Dean, the former Premier League referee, agreed that he was offside but not to the extent that Morrison suggested.
Nevertheless, the goal was allowed to stand and it proved crucial for Hull in booking them a spot in the end-of-season play-offs.
They will face Millwall over two legs for a place in the Wembley final, where they would go up against either Middlesbrough or Southampton.
Wrexham, meanwhile, will simply have to lick their wounds and go again next season after missing out on a fourth successive promotion.
Their rapid rise from the National League to the Championship has been well-documented but a spot in the Premier League has proven a step too far on this occasion.
Three points were enough to fire the Tractor Boys back into the big time, with their goals coming from George Hirst, Jaden Philogene and Kasey McAteer.
Millwall needed Ipswich to slip up to have any chance of finishing in the top two, but it wasn’t to be for the south Londoners.
They did their job by beating relegated Oxford United, but the result at Portman Road consigned them to the play-offs.
Middlesbrough also had an outside chance of automatic promotion but they needed to beat Wrexham, Ipswich to lose and Millwall to fail to win. None of those things transpired, leaving Boro to settle for a fifth-placed finish.
