Liverpool have contacted PGMOL to express serious concerns about Virgil van Dijk’s canceled goal in the 3-0 defeat against Man City.
Andy Robertson was penalized for interfering with goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma from an offside position, and Van Dijk’s header was canceled out.
Referee Chris Kavanagh made the call on the field after the assistant referee raised the offside flag. A video assistant referee (VAR) check ruled that Robertson had interfered with play from an offside position and the goal was disallowed.
Liverpool accept the result of the match, but feel that a mistake was made in this situation and that the goal should not have been ruled out, and have contacted PGMOL.
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Liverpool defender Andy Robertson believes the canceled goal against Manchester City should have stood.
They acknowledge that referees have a difficult job, but do not understand why VAR’s checks and balances prevented the goal from being awarded.
Van Dijk’s header in the 38th minute almost made the score 1-1, but Liverpool lost 3-0.
Having reviewed the incident from multiple camera angles, Liverpool do not believe Donnarumma’s view was obstructed in any way by Robertson as he was not within the City goalkeeper’s view.
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Highlights of the Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool.
Premier League Match Center explained the decision in a post on X: “The referee’s call for offside and no goal for Liverpool was checked and confirmed by VAR. Robertson was in an offside position and was deemed to have committed an obvious act in front of the goalkeeper.”
The offside law states that a player is considered to have interfered with play if he “takes an obvious action that clearly affects an opponent’s ability to play the ball.”
This Premier League Match Center post was noticed by the community on social media platforms.
The community note explains the offside law, adding that “obvious acts such as those alleged here are not sufficient on their own to constitute an offside offence.”
Arne Slott disagreed with the decision, telling Sky Sports after the match: “I think it’s clear that the wrong decision was made, at least in my opinion, because he (Robertson) didn’t interfere in any way with the goalkeeper’s actions.”
“We were so poor in the first half that it might have had a positive impact on the game.”
PGMOL has been contacted for comment.
Liverpool had Virgil van Dijk’s header canceled out in the 38th minute, making the score 1-0 to Man City.
Ref Watch: Why Liverpool’s canceled goal wasn’t an ‘obvious mistake’
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Virgil van Dijk’s header against Manchester City was disallowed for offside, but should it have been disallowed? Ref Watch takes a closer look.
The incident was discussed for more than 15 minutes on Monday’s edition of Ref Watch, with former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher explaining why the call was not reviewed by VAR.
“It’s definitely subjective and it’s all a matter of interpretation, so it’s a gray area.
“Everyone sees things a little differently, so you can take what happened last year or earlier this season and say, ‘They made a different decision.’ I don’t think there’s a hard and fast rule.”
“I’m not going to defend (referee) Chris Kavanagh, but he shouldn’t be hung out to dry just because he didn’t make a decision yesterday because it was his assistant’s decision.
“It was an on-field decision and there was no goal. So VAR looks at it and says, ‘Is Robertson in an offside position? Yes.’
“‘Is he influencing the goalie?’ Obviously they felt yes because he was around. That’s why people think, ‘This is how it should be, this is how it should be.’ That’s open to interpretation. ”
Asked whether the referee should have been sent in front of a monitor, Dermot said: “No, VAR is not there to make decisions. It doesn’t say ‘this is right, this is wrong’.”
“If VAR says, ‘We need to go and check this,’ you’re re-referring. They didn’t think this was a clear mistake. They can only send him on a screen if it’s a clear mistake or it’s a subjective offside that they have to go through.”
“The call on the field was ‘no goal’. So what can we do? That’s supported by the video. He was in an offside position and was close to the goalkeeper, so they say he had an influence.”
However, Jay Bothroyd disagreed with this assessment, adding: “This should have been awarded as a goal. If you look at Donnarumma, he’s coming slightly to the right, but then he’s circling to the left, which means he can see where the ball is going.”
“Robertson has bowed down, but if anything the person who is more in his line of sight is[Man City’s Jeremy]Dok.
“‘A player in action’ is in the rules. In my opinion, a player is in action if he is moving towards the ball or trying to make contact with the ball. Robertson ducked. He didn’t try to deflect the ball or put his head on the ball. He just pushed himself out of the way of the ball.”
“That’s why I think it should have been given and it was an inappropriate decision.”
Analysis: There are no sour grapes in Liverpool.
Kaveh Solhekol of Sky Sports News:
I don’t think this is a case of sour grapes. Liverpool acknowledged the fact that they lost the match, but said, “We believe we made a big mistake this time and we want to make sure we don’t make it again.”
Liverpool are looking into the incident from multiple angles, but cannot understand why the goal was disallowed. In their opinion, it was clear that Andy Robertson was not in Gianluigi Donnarumma’s sight, and he did not make any attempt to play the ball and was actually crouching down.
They believe the score should have been 1-1 at that point, but there’s a good chance they would have lost the match anyway.
