Liverpool have formally raised a complaint with referees’ boss Howard Webb after Virgil van Dijk’s goal against Manchester City was disallowed.
Van Dijk believed he had equalised, but the goal was cancelled because Andy Robertson was judged to be offside and blocking Gianluigi Donnarumma’s line of sight. The Athletic reports that Liverpool told PGMOL they reject the idea that the decision was a matter of “subjective interpretation.” The club believes the rule is stated clearly and that there was no valid reason to overturn the goal. Shortly after the incident, the Premier League’s Match Centre released a clarification.
Their statement read:
“The referee’s on-field decision of offside and no goal was checked and confirmed by VAR — Robertson was in an offside position and making an obvious action directly in front of the goalkeeper.”
Manager Arne Slot did not hide his frustration when speaking post-match.
He said: “It’s hard to give my opinion. For me, it’s obvious the wrong call was made. Robertson did not interfere with the goalkeeper at all. After the game someone showed me a similar goal the same referee allowed for City against Wolves last season. The assistant waited 13 seconds before flagging here — so clearly there was discussion. That decision could have changed the game for us.”
Manchester United legend Gary Neville echoed Slot’s view on Sky Sports, saying:
“I think the keeper has a clear sight of the ball. Robertson isn’t blocking anything. Van Dijk can see it. I understand why Slot is fuming.”
He added:
“Weren’t there similar goals given recently? Donnarumma can see the ball. Liverpool will feel very hard done by.”
The disallowed goal wasn’t the only contentious moment. Manchester City were also given a debatable penalty after Jeremy Doku went down under pressure from Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Erling Haaland’s penalty was saved, but he later scored with a header, before Nico Gonzalez and Doku added two more to secure City’s convincing win.
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