Virgil van Dijk’s controversial equalizer in Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday was ruled out due to Andy Robertson being ruled offside.
Liverpool fans are furious after being told the real reason Virgil van Dijk’s controversial goal against Manchester City was revealed. The Premier League champions suffered a crushing 3-0 defeat at the Etihad on Sunday, again dooming their hopes of retaining the title, but for a moment it looked like Liverpool were close to leveling the score.
As half-time approached with City leading 1-0 through Erling Haaland’s goal, Van Dijk rose highest to meet Mo Salah’s inswinging corner kick and header past Gianluigi Donnarumma. The Liverpool captain drove away in celebration, only for the assistant referee to raise his flag.
Andy Robertson, who was in an offside position, was seen jostling with Donnarumma during a corner kick and then running across the goal and ducking before the ball hit the back of the net. City appealed for offside and referee Chris Kavanagh disallowed the goal.
Inciting anger in the away end and on the touchline, Arne Slott said after the game that the decision was a “clear” mistake and should have been corrected by VAR. Referee Howard Webb spoke out on Tuesday as Liverpool’s title defense was in tatters after just 11 games.
Former referee Webb appeared on the latest episode of Match Officials Mic’d Up as audio from Sunday’s match was released. However, many Liverpool supporters are extremely dissatisfied, although the club has contacted PGMOL.
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The assistant referee was heard saying: “Robertson is in sight, right in front of the keeper. He’s ducking under the ball. He’s very close. I think he’s in sight. I think he (Donnarumma) is in shock, man.”
“Okay, then it’s offside,” Kavanaugh replied. The assistant clarified again, “I think it’s offside.”
However, replays show that Robertson did not interfere with Donnarumma’s view of the ball. Webb refused to go further than saying that Robertson’s duck “could cause hesitation in the goalie,” but it was more of a categorical “done.”
However, the law is strong. Only players who have taken obvious actions that “obviously” affect an opponent’s ability to play the ball should be flagged.
Do you agree with VAR’s decision? Let us know your verdict in the comments section.
“I know that’s not a view that’s held by everyone, but it’s not unreasonable to understand why[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 down to avoid getting in the way,” Webb explained.
“They have concluded that it has affected Donnarumma’s ability to dive for the ball and make saves. Once they have made the decision on the field, VAR’s job is to look at it and decide whether the result was clearly clearly wrong. Only Donnarumma really knows whether he was affected by this and we have to look at the factual evidence.”
Liverpool fans aired their frustrations, with one post from X writing: “The fact that the words ‘I think’ were used in itself requires that decision to be scrutinized. Why on earth did the referee defer to the linesman’s decision when he had an advantage?” And the VAR team, nothing to say! ”
Another person responded to Webb’s comments by writing, “Did anyone actually expect Howard Webb to be accountable in the first place? I didn’t. No accountability. No action, no improvement.”
“It’s yet another PGMOL disaster,” enraged a third. “This is a complete joke. We need change from the top down,” added a fourth.
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