Liverpool have got their explanation as to why Virgil van Dijk's goal against Manchester City was disallowed, with Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) chief Howard Webb confirming the VAR decision was correct. The club had formally lodged a complaint to PGMOL after the Dutch defender's goal was chalked off during their 3-0 defeat to Pep Guardiola's men.
Controversial offside call at Etihad Stadium
With City leading 1-0, Van Dijk’s thumping header appeared to have levelled the score, but referee Chris Kavanagh disallowed the goal for offside after the assistant's flag went up. It was a ruling which was confirmed moments later by VAR Michael Oliver. The decision hinged on whether Andy Robertson, who was standing near the six-yard box, had obstructed Gianluigi Donnarumma’s ability to react. While Robertson never touched the ball, the officials deemed his movement to duck under Van Dijk’s header as an "obvious action" that interfered with play. According to Law 11, an offside player can only be punished if their action "prevents an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball" by either blocking vision or directly impacting the opponent’s ability to make a move. Liverpool believe neither of these conditions applied.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportWhat did Webb say?
While speaking on the show, Webb acknowledged the controversy but remained adamant that the decision was not unreasonable given the evidence.
"Interfering with an opponent where the offside position player doesn't play the ball and the officials have to make a judgment whether the actions of that player impact an opponent, are some of the most subjective decisions that we have to make," said Webb.
"Therefore, it's no surprise that some people believe this goal should have stood, so I think it's important that we look at the facts of what actually happened in this situation. We know the corner comes in and the ball reaches Van Dijk. As the ball's coming across the penalty area, the Manchester City players move out, they leave Robertson in that offside position in the heart of the six-yard box.
"When Van Dijk heads the ball forward, that's the moment when we have to make an offside judgment about Robertson and about what he's doing there. We know he doesn't touch the ball but what does he do? Well, as the ball moves towards him, three yards out from goal, right in the middle of the six-yard box, he makes that clear action to duck below the ball. The ball goes just over his head, and the ball finds the goal in the half of the six-yard box where he is. Then, the officials have to make a judgment – did that clear action impact on Donnarumma, the goalkeeper, and his ability to save the ball? And that's where the subjectivity comes into play.
"Obviously that's the conclusion they drew on that. They looked at that position, they looked at that action, so close to the goalkeeper, and they formed that opinion. I know that's not a view held by everybody, but I think it's not unreasonable to understand why they would form that conclusion. The player is so close to the goalkeeper, the ball's coming right towards him and he has to duck to get out of the way of the ball – and they form the conclusion that that impacts Donnarumma's ability just to dive towards the ball and make that save. And then, of course, once they've made that on-field decision, the job of the VAR is to look at that and decide, was the outcome of offside clearly and obviously wrong?
"Only Donnarumma truly knows if he was impacted by this and, of course, we have to look at the factual evidence, and when we see that factual evidence of that position of the player ducking below the ball, so close to the goalkeeper, the VAR determines that the outcome of offside is not clearly and obviously wrong, and they stay out of it."
Line of vision and beyond
Webb claimed that VAR officials must weigh several other factors, other than the line of vision, before intervening.
He said: "You do hear the assistant [on the VAR audio], in this case, talk about line of vision. I agree with you, the line of vision normally would relate to the view being blocked of the ball. On that one, he does see the ball all the way, but the assistant also talks about other things, ducking below the ball, being close to the goalkeeper.
"Those in themselves can be enough to penalise a player for offside, [by] interfering with an opponent. Even if the keeper can see the ball coming all the way along, he's still in front of the goalkeeper, he still makes that ducking action that could still cause hesitation from the goalkeeper. Goalkeepers work on reactions that make it possible to pull out some incredible saves and that's the judgment formed on the field. So, [apart from] the line of vision, there's other aspects that can also say that this is an offside offence, and that's why the VAR left it alone."
AFPSlot draws comparison to City's own controversy
Liverpool boss Arne Slot referenced a strikingly similar situation from last season, when Bernardo Silva appeared offside in the build-up to a Manchester City goal against Wolves; a strike that was ultimately allowed to stand after a VAR review. Webb, however, argued that the two incidents were "fundamentally different."
"I think there's a clear difference here in that the ball goes directly over the goalkeeper Jose Sa's head," Webb explained. "It doesn't go over Bernardo Silva. Bernardo Silva is an offside position when John Stones heads the ball forward. Importantly, he moved to the left, away from the flight of the ball, and the ball goes straight over Sa, it doesn't go over the head of Bernardo Silva in the way that it went over the head of Robertson, who ducked below it.
"So, I think it's difficult here to see this and think in any way that Jose Sa is impacted by an action of Bernardo Silva. If the ball had gone over Bernardo Silva's head, maybe causing Jose Sa to hesitate in case it hits Bernardo Silva, then we'd come out with the same outcome of check complete on the on-field decision of disallowed goal."
While Liverpool’s frustration simmered, City made the most of their good fortune. With momentum on their side, Guardiola’s men tightened their grip after the interval, with Jeremy Doku scoring the third to see out the match and maintain their unbeaten record at the Etihad. They climbed to the second spot after the victory, cutting down the gap at the summit with Arsenal to just four points.