Away Match Day Thread 24/01/2026 - MDT: Leicester City v Oxford United

[Northstandboy]

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

 

[stokeu]

Apparently there was a boycott and to not be in the stadium until the 14th minute, in protest at the owners.

Seems like only their players took part….. and continued for the next 76.

And as for those who left at half time, they should be commended for actually turning up in the first place and enduring 45 minutes……

 

[Ewes]

Personally think Harris made it easy for the ref to give it, I don’t think it was a foul in all honestly but he made contact with the keeper and the referee bought it, the ironic thing was that I think the goal happens whether Harris engages with the keeper or not.

Ah well, we won so it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things

Yep agree with that.

As a referee myself I’d have disallowed the goal. Clear infringement and foul on the keeper, plus MHarris is offside and impacting the play by impeding the keeper whilst doing so.

 

[East Stand Fan]

Here's a photo of the ball being out of play at the end, you can see the lino is not even looking.
The full video is from the Leicester City extended highlights on YouTube.

View attachment 33163

The funny thing about that photo is the lino was actually looking at Lankshear (I think) a milisecond before that snapshot and the ball was even further off the pitch! He also missed 2 blatant offsides for them in the first half not being in line plus the ref let a couple of yellows slide including two card-worthy fouls. Certainly not the best or most convincing officials.

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

No need to watch. There was no offence. Stop.

Pathetic “big team” refereeing.
Again.

For us to be referee'd on a level playing field we need VAR in the Championship

 

[Twiggy85]

For us to be referee'd on a level playing field we need VAR in the Championship

I would rather crap decisions than have VAR.

 

[NorthWestOx]

For us to be referee'd on a level playing field we need VAR in the Championship

I'd rather not, I prefer to celebrate goals in the moment.

 

[Marked Ox]

Based off of the Leicester extended highlights video, it looks like all the trouble after the final whistle, including the tunnel, stems from Mavididi having a tantrum because Brodie Spencer threw him to the ground in injury time (just after the ball went out of play but wasn't given, photo in a post above). Only supposition on my part but Mavididi made a beeline for Spencer after the final whistle and it was pretty fresh. I say a tantrum as it was hardly vicious, but was cynical, and I didn't see Cam Brannagan hunting down the Leicester player who bodychecked him in the 2nd half when not near the ball.

 

[BrockBuster]

For us to be referee'd on a level playing field we need VAR in the Championship

I think Brannagan would give away about three penalties a game with VAR so I'd rather not.

 

[Marked Ox]

Yep agree with that.

As a referee myself I’d have disallowed the goal. Clear infringement and foul on the keeper, plus MHarris is offside and impacting the play by impeding the keeper whilst doing so.

Would you have given a penalty to us as the initial pushing is by their keeper before any of that happens?

 

[Front Post]

Excellent day out.
The Ale Wagon pre and post match. Had a good effort at working my way through the offering.

Jamie Mcdonnell covers a lot of ground and even if he doesn't make a challenge, it sets the tone and forces the opposition into mistakes.

Sparky took his goal unbelievably well. I like many others fully expected it to end up as a goal kick so fair play to him.

Great atmosphere for the majority of the 90. Could do without the copying of tiktok trending songs (Hibs Away I like it) and coming up with a few new ones for ourselves. A group singing about the prime minister during one of the biggest results in our recent history also a little odd. Don't recall us singing about any of the previous PM's regardless of what they did/didn't do in power.

We can do this.

 

[uptheus]

Here's a photo of the ball being out of play at the end, you can see the lino is not even looking.
The full video is from the Leicester City extended highlights on YouTube.

View attachment 33163

He does appear to be looking, but at the time he was fixated on the Oxford players, so maybe this was a fleeting glance.

Having said that, he missed other offsides, plus wasn’t up to speed in the game, and the referee was f*****g useless too. Was convinced they were trying to get Leicester back in the game. And that’s without the disallowed goal!!

 

[Ewes]

Would you have given a penalty to us as the initial pushing is by their keeper before any of that happens?

Yes, except MHarris was in an offside position when being manhandled by the keeper, so this rules out a penalty being an option. If there had have been a defender on the line covering, and the keeper prevented MHarris getting near the ball then a penalty is the obvious decision.

Except it’s Oxford, and we don’t get penalties.

 

[Marked Ox]

Yes, except MHarris was in an offside position when being manhandled by the keeper, so this rules out a penalty being an option. If there had have been a defender on the line covering, and the keeper prevented MHarris getting near the ball then a penalty is the obvious decision.

Except it’s Oxford, and we don’t get penalties.

He can't have been offside from the initial corner and the pushing by the keeper is before MPH heads the ball which is when Sparky would then be in an offside position.

 

[Bicester Yellow]

Yep agree with that.

As a referee myself I’d have disallowed the goal. Clear infringement and foul on the keeper, plus MHarris is offside and impacting the play by impeding the keeper whilst doing so.

Yeah all fair, just more annoying that he didn’t need to do it at all but he made up for it with the goal later so can’t grumble too much

 

[Toucan]

Harris was offside when MPH headed the ball and was arguably interfering with the keeper but I don't think the lino or ref signalled offside.

There's way too much pushing and shoving at corners these days which gives some refs the excuse to blow for a foul. Particularly poor refs.....

No one can be offside direct from a corner kick. After the initiative.phase yes but not

Any experts out there to explain the offside rule to me re BDK's pass to Harris.

Is it that you can't be offside if the ball was played whilst the potentially offside player is still in his own half?

Would you have given a penalty to us as the initial pushing is by their keeper before any of that happens?

Unless the ball is in play you can not.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

Unless the ball is in play you can not.

In that case (and I am sure you are right) then refs need to get their cards out. For attackers or defenders. Corners, throws and free kicks into the box have turned into a ridiculous wrestling match. A few yellows (and probably reds) would soon put a stop to it.

 

[Pgyellow]

Same with all the laws. They don't need to constantly change them and add to them, just penalise foul play.

 

[Kernow Yellow]

Yep agree with that.

As a referee myself I’d have disallowed the goal. Clear infringement and foul on the keeper, plus MHarris is offside and impacting the play by impeding the keeper whilst doing so.

Sorry, but can I ask what you mean by this? I see there was some high profile PL game where a VAR decision took 5mins+ recently where this was also the stated outcome, but I don't understand it:

If a player (Harris in this case) is deemed to be interfering by impeding the keeper, than surely it is completely irrelevant whether he is in an offside position while doing so? Impeding the keeper in this situation is punishable by a free kick. Offside doesn't come into it.

[Also in this case Harris can't have been offside until MPH headed the ball, as the previous phase was a corner kick, from which it is physically impossible to be offside. The whistle went before/as MPH headed it. So again offside did not come into it on Saturday. I do agree that Harris getting involved with the keeper at all is a bit silly and invites the decision that was made. Though it was very, very soft, and happens all the time without being punished.]

 

[Marked Ox]

No one can be offside direct from a corner kick. After the initiative.phase yes but not



Unless the ball is in play you can not.

The ball is in play when their keeper pushes Sparky before the header by MPH.

 

[Barbadosyellow]

Only possible reason for it being disallowed was Harris tussling with their keeper.

Harris was offside when MPH headed the ball towards goal and he prevented the keeper from moving to his left to make a save, regardless of whether he fouled him or not. No way of knowing if that was in the ref's mind when he blew though.

 

[Toucan]

The ball is in play when their keeper pushes Sparky before the header by MPH.

So it really should be a penalty as a push is a foul.

However no ref is ever going to give a penalty for that push

 

[Ewes]

No one can be offside direct from a corner kick. After the initiative.phase yes but not



Unless the ball is in play you can not.

Technically this isn’t always true - you don’t need the ball to be in play to award a sanction.

Imagine the situation where the ball has been kicked over the Fence End and is out of play. While waiting for a new ball to be fetched and the corner taken, the keeper punches MHarris. The ref sees it happen.

Ref must deal with the situation there and then, dismissing the keeper for violent conduct, and awarding a foul (in this case a penalty).

By applying the strict rule of only taking action when the ball is in play, you’d miss all sorts of off the ball shenanigans, and players would go unpunished unless VAR or a referee observer spotted it.

 

[Kernow Yellow]

A group singing about the prime minister during one of the biggest results in our recent history also a little odd. Don't recall us singing about any of the previous PM's regardless of what they did/didn't do in power.

It's not just odd, it's divisive and irrelevant, when we need to be together and focussed on getting behind the team.

I had a couple of idiots behind me on Saturday. One made a racist comment about one of the Leicester players during his non-stop stream of drivel, for which he immediately apologised and said 'it just came out'. His mate said 'don't worry, you can say what you like'. We made it very clear to him that he definitely could not say that. His mate then started singing songs about Keir Starmer - on his own. When told to shut up he started arguing about politics, and when he got flustered he said 'can't we just concentrate on the football instead of this s**t'. Well you're the one who started singing songs about a politician and condoning racism you idiot!

 

[Toucan]

Technically this isn’t always true - you don’t need the ball to be in play to award a sanction.

Imagine the situation where the ball has been kicked over the Fence End and is out of play. While waiting for a new ball to be fetched and the corner taken, the keeper punches MHarris. The ref sees it happen.

Ref must deal with the situation there and then, dismissing the keeper for violent conduct, and awarding a foul (in this case a penalty).

By applying the strict rule of only taking action when the ball is in play, you’d miss all sorts of off the ball shenanigans, and players would go unpunished unless VAR or a referee observer spotted it.

I don't think you are right.

Yes its a sending off but it can't be a penalty.

I'm happy to be shown to be wrong.

Any qualified refs here viewing

 

[Jster]

First sentence on this page:

"Direct and indirect free kicks and penalty kicks can only be awarded for offences committed when the ball is in play."

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct

IFAB Laws of the Game

www.thefa.com

 

[Kernow Yellow]

I don't think you are right.

Yes its a sending off but it can't be a penalty.

I'm happy to be shown to be wrong.

Any qualified refs here viewing

Yes. @Ewes is a qualified ref apparently! So it's a bit worrying that he thinks this.

To quote Law 12:

"Direct and indirect free kicks and penalty kicks can only be awarded for offences committed when the ball is in play"

Edit: @Jster beat me to it

 

[Lost Marbles]

Yes. @Ewes is a qualified ref apparently! So it's a bit worrying that he thinks this.

Plenty of qualified drivers who don't know the highway code properly.

 

[werthersoriginal]

It's not just odd, it's divisive and irrelevant, when we need to be together and focussed on getting behind the team.

I had a couple of idiots behind me on Saturday. One made a racist comment about one of the Leicester players during his non-stop stream of drivel, for which he immediately apologised and said 'it just came out'. His mate said 'don't worry, you can say what you like'. We made it very clear to him that he definitely could not say that. His mate then started singing songs about Keir Starmer - on his own. When told to shut up he started arguing about politics, and when he got flustered he said 'can't we just concentrate on the football instead of this s**t'. Well you're the one who started singing songs about a politician and condoning racism you idiot!

It's very odd. I don't recall songs about Thatcher, Blair, or Johnson, all far more likely to be objectionable, whereas Starmer is one of the more boring, faceless, and mild PMs we've had. Or do you think there are certain Russian-backed influencers encouraging it?

 

[Briggsy]

Yep agree with that.

As a referee myself I’d have disallowed the goal. Clear infringement and foul on the keeper, plus MHarris is offside and impacting the play by impeding the keeper whilst doing so.

Disagree about the foul but agree that about the offside. I thought, overall, the officials were terrible. Missed offsides, soft fouls given Leicester's way, inconsistency with yellow cards. But we see that every week, so no surprise.