Was Mamah really offside? Disallowed Kotoko goal sparks debate

Emmanuel Mamah’s disallowed goal in the Democracy Cup clash between Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak has sparked debate, with the decision appearing to be one of the tightest calls of the game.

The new Kotoko signing thought he had opened the scoring in the first half after meeting a superb delivery from Emmanuel Sanja, but the assistant referee immediately raised his flag for offside.

The move itself deserved plenty of appreciation.

After cutting onto his left foot, Sanja produced an inch-perfect cross that split the Hearts defence and found Mamah in a dangerous position inside the box.

The forward rose highest and powered a header past Hearts goalkeeper Benjamin Asare, only for the effort to be ruled out.

Mamah was denied what would have been a memorable debut goal for Kotoko, leaving the game goalless.

However, a second look at the incident has raised questions over whether the forward was actually offside.

From the video, Mamah appears to have been played onside by Hearts defender Ali Mohammed, although the margins were extremely fine.

With no VAR available to review the decision, the assistant referee had to make the call in real time, with the positioning of the players making it an especially difficult judgment.

It was a decision that can generate debate from different angles, but given how tight the situation was, it would be difficult to place the blame entirely on the officials.

Ultimately, Mamah's potential debut goal did not count, and the match remained goalless after 90 minutes before Kotoko eventually won 4-1 on penalties.

FKA/AM