Virgil van Dijk thought Liverpool had equalized before his header was disputed by VAR during the Reds’ 3-0 defeat at Manchester City, a situation now all too familiar to referee Chris Kavanagh.
The forensic analysis of Virgil van Dijk’s canceled goal intensifies as Liverpool fans pick through the remains of Sunday’s 3-0 defeat away to Manchester City. Midway through the first half, Erling Haaland’s header gave City a 1-0 lead, but it looked like Liverpool might level the score when they put the ball into the net.
Van Dijk’s powerful header beat Gianluigi Donnarumma and the Liverpool captain went out to celebrate. It looked as though Donnarumma had no chance to stop the ball coming towards him, but City’s goalkeeper was quick to point out that Andy Robertson, who was in an offside position, had crossed the goal before ducking down.
The assistant referee spotted offside and raised his flag. Referee Chris Kavanagh agreed and the goal was controversially ruled out.
There was an uproar in the away end and on the touchline as Arne Slott was understandably not happy with the decision. The Liverpool manager insisted after the game: “It’s clear that the wrong decision was made.”
Slott also spoke about how City were given away the winning goal in the 95th minute in similar circumstances to last season’s game against Wolves – also under Kavanagh. However, what the Liverpool manager may not remember is that there have been other instances where Kavanagh has been at the center of such incidents, and unlike when City beat Wolves, a goal was disallowed.
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Everton 1-1 Manchester United 2019/20 – Goal disallowed
With just a few minutes remaining in the match between Everton and Manchester United at Goodison Park in March 2020, the hosts had a second-half winner ruled out for offside. Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s shot was deflected towards goal and Gylfi Sigurdsson, who was offside, moved to put the ball past him and past David de Gea.
United were furious at Sigurdsson for interfering with play. VAR helped the Red Devils and the goal was chalked off by technicality.
Manager Calvert-Lewin called the decision a “disaster” and manager Carlo Ancelotti was shown a red card for protesting referee Kavanagh.
Wolves 1-2 Man City 2024/25 – Goal allowed
Now, about the events that Slott remembered. John Stones earned all three points for City in the game against Molineux in October last year, inflicting the wrath of Wolves in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
On the field, Stones’ header was ruled out because Bernardo Silva was in Jose Sa’s line of sight, but Kavanagh, who was called to the pitchside monitor, eventually allowed the goal. Silva ducked as the ball flew toward Sa and into the goal.
The Premier League will begin providing in-match updates regarding VAR decisions in 2024. A post from the Match Center account on social media platform
“VAR determined that Bernardo Silva was not in sight and had no impact on the goalkeeper and recommended an on-field review. The referee overturned the original decision and the goal was awarded.”
Man City 3-0 Liverpool 2025/26 – Goal canceled
And finally, Kavanaugh’s third and most recent controversy. Now that we’ve covered the event, let’s take a look at what Match Center has to say.
“The referee’s call for Liverpool to be offside and no goal was confirmed by VAR, who determined that Robertson was in an offside position and committed an obvious act in front of the goalkeeper,” the post said.
Should Virgil van Dijk’s goal have been allowed? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.
Ultimately, this is a subjective judgment, and Kavanaugh has faced a lot of criticism. Officials were advised to leave the subjective offside decision to VAR, which ultimately left it to the referee’s on-field decision.
On Tuesday, fans will receive a response from PGMOL head Howard Webb. Webb will talk about the incident on the next episode of Match Officials Mick Do Up, and Liverpool supporters will no doubt be watching closely as they consider what was going on in the lead-up to the international break.
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