PGMOL chairman Howard Webb has given his verdict on the controversial decision to disallow Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk’s goal against Man City in the Premier League. The Reds captain thought he had equalized in the first half at the Etihad Stadium, but his goal was ruled out for offside by VAR.
Liverpool fell behind in the first half thanks to Erling Haaland’s opening goal. His header came after he saw an earlier penalty saved by Giorgi Mamadashvili.
Van Dijk thought he had leveled the score before half-time with a header from a corner kick. However, the celebrations were cut short when VAR intervened and deemed Andy Robertson, who was in an offside position, to have interfered with play.
City continued to rub salt into Liverpool’s wounds. Goals from Nico Gonzalez and Jeremy Doku either side of half-time gave Josep Guardiola’s side a 3-0 win, dealing another blow to Liverpool’s hopes of defending their Premier League title.
The decision to exclude Van Dijk’s goal is divided among experts. However, PGMOL director Howard Webb gave his thoughts on the decision.
“Certainly Michael, a big decision in a big game,” Webb told TNT referee Mike’s Up about former Reds striker Michael Owen.
“As the ball moved toward Robertson, in the middle of the six-yard box, three yards from the goal, he made a clear action by ducking under the ball. The ball passed 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 goalie and formed such an opinion.
“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.”
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Liverpool manager Arne Slott gave his thoughts on the decision. “I think it’s clear, at least in my opinion, that the wrong decision was made,” he said.
“Because he (Robertson) didn’t interfere with the goalkeeper’s actions at all. We were so poor in the first half that it could have affected the game in a positive way for us.”
