(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Virgil van Dijk saw his equalising goal against Manchester City chalked off for offside.
The flag was raised after the Liverpool centre-back appeared to have restored parity following Erling Haaland’s first-half goal.
Andy Robertson was believed to have been standing in an offside position and impeding Gianluigi Donnarumma’s view.
Virgil van Dijk goal was overturned after Andy Robertson action
According to the Premier League match centre, the VAR team supporting the officiating of the Premier League encounter entirely agreed with referee Chris Kavanagh’s view.
Not only was the Scottish left-back in an offside position, but he was also believed to have made an ‘obvious action’ in front of the opposing goalkeeper.
That ‘obvious action’? Robertson had ducked to avoid Van Dijk’s headed effort on goal, whilst allegedly impeding his opponent’s view.
According to the Premier League’s own rules, a player will be penalised for:
- Preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision; or
- Challenging an opponent for the ball; or
- Clearly attempting to play a ball which is close when this action impacts on an opponent; or
- Making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of the opponent to play the ball
In our view, the officiating team at the Etihad Stadium have got this badly wrong.
The former Hull City fullback was standing in front of Donnarumma, but he’s clearly not blocking the Italy international’s line of sight.
Judging by the angle of Van Dijk’s initial header and the opposing goalkeeper’s positioning, he has an almost unobstructed line of sight.
Robertson then instinctively ducks to avoid accidental contact with the ball on its way towards goal.
Looking at where the ball nestles finally in the net, we can all surely agree that there’s no chance of Donnarumma reaching the effort.
Micah Richards and Gary Neville surprised with VAR decision
Even ex-Man City defender Micah Richards disagreed with the decision to overturn Van Dijk’s equaliser.
“I wouldn’t agree with that [that Robertson made an ‘obvious action’],” the 37-year-old spoke on Sky Sports.
“I think it’s harsh. Yeah, I think the defender’s trying to get up and catch him offside, but I think the goalkeeper can see it all the way.”
Speaking on comms, Gary Neville agreed: “I think [Robertson] is outside the eyeline of the goalkeeper.
“I think Slot is right to be fuming. The goalkeeper is not getting anywhere near that. He had a clear line of sight.”
Liverpool, of course, have been far from value for money over the course of the tie.
But it’s a decision that does change the nature of the game, denying the Reds an opportunity to level the score before Nico Gonzalez’s speculative effort doubled the scoreline for the hosts.