PGMOL referee Howard Webb said it was “not unreasonable” for Virgil van Dijk’s header to be ruled out in Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester City.
Van Dijk’s first-half header was disallowed on-field for offside, with Andy Robertson penalized for interfering with goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Referee Chris Kavanagh made the call on the field after the assistant referee raised the offside flag. After a video assistant referee (VAR) check, the goal was ruled out as Robertson was determined to have interfered with play from an offside position.
Liverpool head coach Arn Slott said it was “plain and obvious” that the decision was wrong before the club contacted PGMOL, but chair umpire Webb never said the decision was wrong during the match official’s microphone.
Webb said, “As the ball moved towards Robertson, in the middle of the six-yard box, three yards from goal, Robertson took a clear action by ducking under the ball. The ball passed just over his head and found the goal in his half of the six-yard box.”
“The referee has to make a decision, but did that specific action affect the goalkeeper and his ability to save the ball? That’s where the subjectivity comes in.
“They saw the action in close proximity to the goalkeeper and formed that opinion.
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Premier League match highlights between Manchester City and Liverpool
“I know that’s not a view held by everyone, but it’s not unreasonable to see why (the officials) would come to that conclusion when the player is so close to the goalkeeper, the ball is coming towards the goalkeeper, and he has to duck to avoid getting in the way.
“They have concluded that it will affect Donnarumma’s ability to dive for the ball and make saves.
“Once they make a decision on the field, VAR’s job is to look at it and decide whether the result was clearly and clearly wrong.
“Only Donnarumma will really know if he was affected by this, and we need to look at the factual evidence.”
Slott compared the decision to last season’s, when John Stones headed home the late winner against Wolves in Manchester City’s favor, despite Bernardo Silva standing in a similar position in front of goalkeeper Jose Sa.
“There’s a clear difference in that the ball goes directly over Sa’s head and not over Silva’s head. He’s in an offside position, but the important thing is that he stays away from the flight of the ball,” Webb said.
“Looking at this, it’s hard to see how Sa would be affected by Silva’s actions. If the ball had gone over Silva’s head, perhaps causing Sa to hesitate if it had hit Silva, we would have had the same result of the goal being disallowed.”
What officials said…
Assistant Referee: Robertson is in line of sight and directly in front of the keeper. He’s under the ball. He’s very, very close. I think he’s in sight. I think he (Donnarumma) is under the influence, mate.
Referee: Then it’s offside.
Assistant referee: I think it’s offside.
Referee: The on-field decision was offside.
VAR: Confirm on-field decision for offside against Andy Robertson. Delay, delay.
This means you have a clear offside position.
AVAR: I agree with the decision on the field. I think it’s offside. This is clearly an obvious move that affects the goalkeeper.
VAR: Chris, this is Michael. Confirmed on-field offside ruling against Andy Robertson. He is in an offside position very close to the goalkeeper and makes an obvious movement in front of him. Check completed, offside.
