Newcastle v Manchester City: Why was Cheick Tiote goal disallowed by referee Mike Jones?

The Newcastle midfielder appeared to have equalised in the game at St James' Park

Cheik Ismael Tiote of Newcastle remonstrates with Referee Mike Jones after his goal is disallowed for offside (GETTY IMAGES)

Referee Mike Jones caused uproar at St James' Park when he disallowed Cheick Tiote's strike for Newcastle against Manchester City.

It appeared that Jones deemed that Yoan Gouffran - who was stood in an offside position when Tiote struck the ball - was interfering with an opponent by distracting Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart.

This is what Law 11 of the game says about such incidents:

:: A player is not committing an offence simply by being in an offside position.

:: Active involvement plus offside position is the offence.

While in an offside position, there are three things a player cannot do:

:: Interfere with play

:: Interfere with an opponent

:: gain an advantage by being in an offside position

Interfering with an opponent is defined as:

:: preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball. For example, by clearly obstructing the goalkeeper's line of vision or movement

:: making a gesture or movement which, in the opinion of the referee, deceives or distracts an opponent

- the opponent must be reasonably close to the play so that the blocking, deceiving or distracting makes a difference