It was the most dramatic moment of the whole football season. Having trailed 3-0 to the millionaires of Manchester United in their FA Cup semi-final, lowly Coventry had bravely fought their way back to 3-3 and extra time. And now, in the last minute of that extra time, they had broken away to score an incredible winner.
Or had they? Immediately after Victor Torp’s shot beat Onana, and the sky blue end of Wembley erupted into pandemonium, the ITV broadcast footage rewound to the critical moment – when the defence-splitting pass was made that led to the goal. So what did the designated expert think at this critical moment? ‘He’s onside,’ said Lee Dixon, assertively.
Instead of expertise and insight we get performative clownishness
The confidence with which he stated this puzzled me because, looking at the same pictures, my immediate impression was that he was marginally offside, not on. But Dixon was not to be dissuaded.
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