At Liverpool FC, the anger over Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed goal in the top match at Manchester City has not yet subsided. The Reds have now turned to the highest refereeing authority.
Arne Slot emphasized several times, just to be on the safe side, that his team had been completely deservedly behind 0-2 at half-time. And yet the Liverpool FC coach felt unfairly treated after Sunday’s 3-0 defeat at Manchester City. Why wasn’t Virgil van Dijk’s header counted to make it 1-1?
The Reds captain rose high from a corner in the 38th minute and buried the ball in the bottom right corner. However, because Andy Robertson, who was offside and in the path of the ball, had ducked away in the five-meter area, referee Chris Kavanagh decided after some hesitation to disallow the goal. VAR Michael Oliver reviewed the situation but confirmed the call. Robertson was offside “and made an obvious move directly in front of the goalkeeper,” was the explanation on the video screen at the Etihad Stadium.
Liverpool, who conceded the decisive 0-2 shortly afterwards through a deflected shot from Nico, continue to dispute this. According to unanimous reports in the English media, the champions, who have fallen to eighth place, have lodged a complaint with the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO), the highest refereeing organization in English soccer, headed by Howard Webb.
Liverpool sees Donnarumma’s line of sight as unobstructed
The club accepts the defeat against ManCity, but believes that the incident should not be accepted without protest or review, writes the BBC. Liverpool argues, based on numerous camera angles, that Gianluigi Donnarumma’s line of sight was by no means obstructed.
According to Rule 11, an offside player influences an opponent in a punishable manner if he “prevents him from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing his vision; contests the ball with that opponent; clearly attempts to play the ball near that opponent, where this action affects an opponent; clearly becomes active and thus clearly affects the opponent’s ability to play the ball.”
The Reds do not believe this to be the case in the scene in question, and there is correspondingly great displeasure with VAR Oliver, who had no objections. Nevertheless, it should be clear to them that they have bigger problems right now. “The 1-1 would have been the biggest gift we could have gotten at halftime,” Slot said after the game. “Before the break, they were better than us in all areas.”
