Liverpool have written to Professional Game Match Officials Limited after Virgil van Dijk’s header was disallowed in Sunday’s 3-0 defeat at Manchester City. With City 1-0 up, Van Dijk appeared to level the match with a header, but the on-field decision to rule the goal out was upheld following a Video Assistant Referee review.
VAR determined that Andrew Robertson was in an offside position and had performed an 'obvious action' by ducking in front of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, an action the review judged to have affected the keeper. The VAR operation on the day was overseen by Michael Oliver.
Liverpool maintain that the conditions for an offside offence, as set out in the laws of the game, were not satisfied. After reviewing footage from multiple angles, the club say Robertson did not obstruct Donnarumma’s line of sight and therefore did not become an active participant in a way that should have nullified the goal. They say they are baffled the VAR process did not lead to the goal being awarded.
Although the club have accepted the result, they felt it was important to raise the matter with Howard Webb, head of PGMOL, because they do not want the incident to go unchallenged.
