THE PREMIER LEAGUE’S expert panel has ruled that Virgil van Dijk should NOT have been flagged offside when he scored his disallowed “equaliser” in Liverpool’s defeat at Manchester City.
But the panel of former players, coaches and refs BACKED VAR Michael Oliver’s call not to intervene.
PGMOL boss Howard Webb argued on Tuesday that Oliver’s decision to stick with the offside call against Andy Robertson when he ducked under van Dijk’s header past Gianluigi Donnarumma was “not unreasonable”.
And while the Prem’s Key Match Incident panel – which looks at all major decisions – came to a conclusion that assistant Stuart Burt had wrongly raised his flag, the error did NOT meet the threshold for a VAR intervention.
Liverpool had made an official complaint about the first-half decision, with boss Arne Slot furious at the call.
Burt raised his flag as Van Dijk headed off in celebration, arguing that Robertson, standing close to Donnarumma, had impeded the keeper by his action.
Recordings played out on the Match Officials Mic’d Up review show the assistant’s instant view was that an offence had been committed.
As the ball went in, Burt told referee Chris Kavanagh on the officials’ communications system: “Robertson, Robertson, Robertson.
“Robertson’s in line of vision, right in front of the keeper.
“He’s ducked under the ball. He’s very close to him. I think he’s line of vision. I think he’s been impacted, mate.”
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VAR Oliver and his assistant in the Stockley Park booth swiftly confirmed the call, agreeing it was a “clear, an obvious action that clearly impacts on the goalkeeper”.
But the panel is understood to have come to a conclusion – it is unknown if that was the unanimous view of the five members or a majority vote – that the goal was incorrectly chalked off on the field of play.
However, the error was not sufficient for Oliver to intervene as it was a subjective call that was not “clearly and obviously wrong”.
Nevertheless, the findings of the panel will only add to Liverpool’s frustrations – with Slot certain to be asked for his reaction ahead of the resumption of Prem games next weekend.
