[Offside / Advantage] An accurate advantage and the process of disallowing a goal after consultation with the assistant referee

This scene shows an accurate application of advantage and an excellent process by the match officials leading to the goal being disallowed for offside. There are two main points to look at. The first is the timing and judgement of the referee's advantage. Immediately after Fujieda's No. 19 was brought down, as the ball was played in behind, it can be seen that the referee quickly glanced at the assistant referee. If the player running through had been offside, the referee would have needed to stop play and penalise the earlier foul on No. 19. The referee appears to have checked the assistant referee in an instant, established that there was no offside, and then judged that the attacking team still had an advantage before playing it. Even in a fast attack, the referee turned their head, checked the assistant referee and only then chose to play the advantage, which was high-quality refereeing. The second is the process leading to the goal being disallowed, and the referee's positioning. When Fujieda's No. 10 shot, a team-mate in front of the goalkeeper was in an offside position. The assistant referee knew that this player was in an offside position, but how much that player had affected the goalkeeper was a matter for the referee's judgement. The assistant referee therefore did not run towards the halfway line, which is the signal that a goal is allowed, and instead stayed near the corner flag and waited for the referee. The referee, for their part, had taken up a good position in line with the path of the shot. From that position, it is likely that the referee had the information needed to judge whether the player in an offside position was in the path of the shot and how much they had affected the opponent. The referee and the assistant referee, who had stayed near the corner flag, then consulted and correctly reached the conclusion that the goal should be disallowed for offside. This process was an excellent piece of refereeing and a valuable example for match officials.