Why Virgil van Dijk’s effort versus Manchester City was incorrectly overturned following a VAR review.

Virgil van Dijk’s equaliser against Manchester City was ruled out for offside.

The goal was disallowed after Andy Robertson was deemed to be offside and obstructing goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma’s view when Van Dijk headed the ball into the net.

The VAR team supported referee Chris Kavanagh’s decision, stating that although Robertson didn’t touch the ball, he made an “obvious action” that affected the goalkeeper — ducking as the ball flew past him.

Premier League rules say a player in an offside position must be penalised if they block an opponent’s vision, challenge for the ball, attempt to play the ball in a way that affects an opponent, or make a clear action that impacts the opponent’s ability to play the ball.

However, many believe the officials got it wrong. Robertson may have been in front of Donnarumma, but he didn’t appear to block the goalkeeper’s sightline, and Donnarumma was unlikely to stop the shot regardless.

Micah Richards disagreed with the call on Sky Sports, saying the goalkeeper could see the ball the whole time, while Gary Neville said Robertson wasn’t in Donnarumma’s eyeline and that the keeper wouldn’t have reached the header anyway.

The decision proved costly, as Liverpool missed the chance to equalise before City scored again through Nico Gonzalez.