Why it took so long for referees to rule Pongracic equaliser offside against Como
FLORENCE, ITALY - OCTOBER 18: Marin Pongracic of ACF Fiorentina scores a goal during the Serie A match between ACF Fiorentina and Como 1907 at Stadio Artemio Franchi on October 18, 2026 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images)
Marin Pongracic thought he had netted a quickfire brace to draw Fiorentina level after falling 2-0 behind in the first half of their Serie A match against Como on Sunday afternoon, but he was eventually deemed offside after a VAR check that went on for almost five minutes. Here’s what happened.
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Why it took almost five minutes to rule Pongracic offside in Fiorentina vs. Como
Como had taken a two-goal first half lead thanks to strikes from Mattia Liberali and Nico Paz at the Stadio Franchi on Sunday afternoon. Pongracic halved the deficit in the 42nd minute and had the ball in the back of the net for a second time from a set-piece in the final moments of first-half stoppage time.
It was a perfect free-kick delivery from teenage Argentina international Franco Mastantuono that put the ball into the pathway of Pongracic, who just had to stick out a leg to beat Jean Butez for what he thought was the equaliser.
The goal was then reviewed by the Video Assistant Referees, a check that went on for four and a half minutes by the time referee Marco Di Bello announced his final decision.
According to initial reports, the reason why it took so long for the decision to be made is because the semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) that is used in every Serie A match was not working on this occasion.
This meant that the ‘old’ technology had to be used to check for offside, which was complicated given the number of players in the congested penalty area at the time of the free-kick delivery.
Despite the fact that there were meant to be three minutes added on at the end of the first half, the half-time whistle eventually went with 53 minutes on the clock.
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