Five disallowed goals to rival Youri Tielemans - including Brighton and ex-Newcastle United stars

Youri Tielemans? More like Youri Nearly-Man! (Please don’t stop reading. Please.) The Leicester City midfielder almost made a stunning contribution to the Foxes’ survival bid on Tuesday evening with a thunderous strike to open the scoring against Leeds United at Elland Road. I say ‘almost’ because the goal was ultimately chalked off by VAR for an offside in the build-up.

An early James Maddison corner ricocheted and bobbled its way out of the hosts’ penalty area and straight on to the waiting boot of the Belgian, who connected with a ballistic venom to send his shot arrowing past the stranded Illan Meslier. To make matters all the more titilating for the aesthetes and purists, it even grazed the underside of the crossbar before nestling deep into the very apex of the top corner. It was, in short, a screamer.

But alas, it was not meant to be. Shortly afterwards that omniscient killjoy in Stockley Park chimed in and ruined all the fun, as it so often does. I’m all for rules being rules until they destroy something beautiful.

Anyways, a late Jamie Vardy effort rescued a point for Leicester in a crucial 1-1 draw that could prove decisive in their struggle to avoid relegation in the coming weeks. Blah, blah, blah. Good for them, congratulations, etc.

Right now, I’m not too bothered about any of that. Instead, in tribute to poor Youri, I’m here to talk about some of the greatest disallowed goals of recent - and in the case of Kevin Keegan, not so recent - times. Here we go...

Alexis Mac Allister

A stunner from earlier this season to kick us off. In the months since he had this goal ruled out against Leicester City, Mac Allister has won a World Cup and established himself as one of the most sought-after emerging talents in global football, but I reckon this probably still keeps him up at night whenever he thinks about it.

The Argentine, like Tielemans, was denied a sumptuous long-range ripper after one of his teammates was adjudged to have wandered offside in the moments prior. This one was complicated by the fact that Enock Mwepu, the offending player, didn’t actually touch the ball, but was still deemed to have interfered with the defender’s ability to clear his lines. One thing that was entirely uncomplicated, however, was Mac Allister’s strike. Pure, straight, and true - it damn near left a whole in the net.

Cheick Tiote

Whereas Tielemans and Mac Allister may have been frustrated, Tiote was downright robbed. And that’s coming from a Sunderland fan. The former Newcastle United struck this left-footed pearler on the half volley past a helpless Joe Hart in a clash against Manchester City back in 2014. Nine years later, and it still remains a mystery as to how the referee got this one so wrong.

Upon being beaten, humiliated, and generally flummoxed by the Ivorian’s delicious effort, Hart protested to the official that Yoan Gouffron had interfered with play by standing in his line of sight. And perhaps that is true, provided one of the goalkeeper’s eyes is a periscope or something.

Leave it to Danny Mills to deliver the telling zing, however. The ex-England defender’s complaints were ‘worse than one of his shampoo adverts’, according to the pundit. Still fooled the ref though. It’s shame too, because had Tiote’s goal stood, it would have been head and shoulders above everything else in the Goal of the Season nominations. (Please don’t stop reading. Please.)

Andy Carroll

In January of last year, Andy Carroll, a man who has made his reputation on being the human embodiment of a battering ram, scored a truly sublime goal in a Championship fixture between Reading and Fulham. Beneath the glint of the Madejski floodlights, the towering striker peeled away from his centre-back, and flung himself horizontally through the air to connect with a hopeful cross.

The subsequent bicycle kick left the opposing goalkeeper stranded, and immediately called for a hasty reordering of Carroll’s personal highlight reel. Unfortunately for him, however, he had peeled a little too far off his defender, and had in fact rendered himself wholly and inarguably offside. Still, it’s not like lightning ever strike twice, right?

Andy Carroll (again)

Wrong. In truth, lightning often does strike the same place twice, and has a particular proclivity for hitting unsually tall objects. The Empire State Building, for example, is hit by lightning about 25 times a year. Maybe that’s why Carroll got stung a second time. In the same game.

In January of last year, Andy Carroll, a man who has made his reputation on being the human embodiment of a battering ram, scored a truly sublime goal in a Championship fixture between Reading and Fulham. Beneath the glint of the Madejski floodlights, the towering striker peeled away from his centre-back, controlled an optimistic diagonal with his chest, and leathered from distance into the far corner.

This was, for my money, a much better goal than the first, but again, the big man was offside when the pass was played, and the effort did not stand. You really have to feel for him.

Kevin Keegan

This goal really did have it all, except for the backing of the codified laws of association football. The year was 1981, and at the time, Keegan was plying his trade for Southampton. Coming up against a Manchester United side kitted out in royal blue, the Saints turned on the magic to produce a superb, urgent passage of one-touch football which ended in a high, looping ball into the area.

Keegan, for his part, was onside, but his teammate David Armstrong was not. The permed wonder arched his body in midair to roundhouse a volley into the far corner, but the referee quickly intervened to rule it out. The saddest thing about this goal is that it takes Kev bloody ages to realise that he’s about to have his heartbroken. Real ‘Ralph Wiggum in I Love Lisa’ vibes to this one.