Liverpool Respond After Rejecting PGMOL’s Reasoning Behind Van Dijk Goal Being Ruled Out

Liverpool have reached out to the PGMOL to express their frustration over the decision to rule out Virgil van Dijk’s goal in Sunday’s defeat to Manchester City.

The Reds skipper thought he had equalised in the 38th minute, but the goal was cancelled after officials determined Andy Robertson was offside and “actively interfering with the goalkeeper.” This was despite the left-back not touching the ball and standing to the side of Gianluigi Donnarumma, rather than blocking his line of sight. As pundit Jay Bothroyd noted on Sky Sports, the only player who might have obstructed the goalkeeper was actually Jeremy Doku.

Liverpool contact PGMOL regarding Van Dijk decision

On Monday, James Pearce of The Athletic reported that Liverpool have contacted PGMOL boss Howard Webb to raise “serious concerns” about the ruling. The club insist that none of the conditions required to disallow the goal were met. After reviewing every angle, senior figures at Anfield believe Robertson was not impeding Donnarumma and argue that the goalkeeper’s view was clear.

VAR official Michael Oliver did not instruct referee Chris Kavanagh to check the monitor, and Liverpool believe that the proper VAR steps were not followed — suggesting the outcome may have been different had a review taken place.

Liverpool justified in escalating the matter

The club appear to have assessed the footage carefully before contacting PGMOL, rather than reacting emotionally. Still, it’s unlikely their complaint will lead to anything meaningful beyond a generic acknowledgement from Webb.

Two issues stand out from the incident:

1. The assistant referee raised his flag unusually late — around ten seconds after the goal.

2. VAR did not step in to prompt a monitor check.

VAR was introduced to eliminate clear mistakes like this, and a pitchside review may well have resulted in the goal standing.

While Liverpool’s challenge probably won’t change the result or lead to formal action, the club are right to document their objections and push for clarity on the process.