Arne Slott: Virgil van Dijk’s goal between Liverpool and Manchester City was canceled due to a ‘clear and obvious misjudgment’

The Dutch defender thought he had leveled Liverpool by guiding a header past Gianluigi Donnarumma following Erling Haaland’s opener, only for the assistant referee to raise his flag for offside.

The goal was controversially canceled after Andy Robertson was adjudged to have obstructed Donnarumma’s view from an offside position.

Slott was unhappy with the decision at the time and expressed his thoughts in the post-game interview, citing an example of a similar goal conceded last season.

“It’s difficult to give my opinion,” Slott told Sky Sports. “It is clear that the wrong decision was made, at least in my opinion.

“He didn’t interfere with the goalkeeper’s actions at all. Immediately after the game, someone showed me a goal from last season against City vs. Wolves that had been cleared by the same referee.

“It took 13 seconds for the linesman to raise the flag saying he was offside. So there was obviously some communication, but like I said, it could have had a positive impact on the game for us.”

Liverpool: “We shouldn’t be talking about being number one”

Sunday’s defeat was Liverpool’s fifth in the Premier League this season, with both losses coming in their last six games.

They lost to Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Manchester United, Brentford and City in the first four months of their title defense and are eighth in the table with 18 points after 11 games, eight behind leaders Arsenal.

“I don’t know if it’s the situation or not. We started the week very well, and the end of the week was very bad,” Slott said of the many problems that need to be fixed.

“I didn’t expect it to be our game today, other than that decision. They were the better team overall and we need to improve, but we didn’t need this game to know that.”

“I saw the team trying to get back into the game, but it just wasn’t enough today. That’s obvious.”

Liverpool find themselves in a similar position to Mikel Arteta’s Gunners last season, with a significant lead at the top of the league.

Slott has downplayed his side’s title defense, saying they shouldn’t think about top spot yet, but the Dutch coach knows the title race is far from over.

“Last season, when we were down by eight points, it didn’t feel like it was over,” he said.

“We shouldn’t talk about being number one (in the league). We should focus on our performance, which we need to do better.”

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