The debate surrounding Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed goal in Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester City has continued to rage, with Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) chief Howard Webb publicly backing the officials’ decision and explaining why the goal was ruled out.
Liverpool, meanwhile, have lodged a formal complaint over what they believe was an incorrect call at the Etihad Stadium.
Manchester City ran out comfortable winners in their final match before the international break, thanks to goals from Erling Haaland, Nico Gonzalez and Jeremy Doku.
However, the match was overshadowed by controversy as a result of Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed goal which comes from first-half header. The goal which could have drawn Liverpool level, was ruled out for offside after a lengthy VAR review.
The incident occurred shortly after Haaland had opened the scoring and missed a penalty earlier in the game.
When Van Dijk rose to head home from a corner, Liverpool thought they had found their equaliser — only for the celebrations to be cut short.
Assistant referee Stuart Burt flagged for offside against Andrew Robertson, ruling that the full-back had interfered with Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma from an offside position.
VAR official Michael Oliver reviewed the incident but found no “clear and obvious error” to overturn the on-field decision, leaving Liverpool infuriated.
Webb breaks down the decision
In a appearance on Match Officials: Mic’d Up, Howard Webb explained the rationale behind the controversial call, acknowledging the subjectivity involved in such decisions while defending the officials’ judgment.
“Interfering with an opponent where the offside position player doesn’t play the ball and the officials have to make a judgement whether the actions of that player impact an opponent are some of the most subjective decisions that we have to make,” Webb said, as quoted by BBC Sport.
“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 judgement about Robertson and about what he’s doing there.”
Webb detailed how Robertson, standing only a few yards from goal, ducked under the ball as it travelled towards him — a movement that, according to the officials, affected Donnarumma’s ability to react.
“We know he (Robertson) 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,” Webb explained.
“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 judgement – did that clear action impact Donnarumma, the goalkeeper, and his ability to save the ball? And that’s where the subjectivity comes into play.”
The PGMOL chief added that the officials deemed Robertson’s movement to have interfered with the goalkeeper’s line of sight or movement, which was sufficient to rule the goal out under the current laws of the game.
“Obviously that’s the conclusion they drew on that,” he continued. “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 (Robertson) 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.”
Liverpool seek answers after controversial defeat
Liverpool have since reached out to PGMOL to express their dissatisfaction with the decision over the Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed goal.
The club believes the goal should have stood, arguing that Robertson’s positioning did not materially affect Donnarumma’s attempt to stop the ball.
The complaint follows a string of VAR controversies this season that have put officiating under intense scrutiny.
Webb, however, was firm that VAR followed the correct protocol by not intervening once the on-field officials made their judgment.
“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?” he said.
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“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.”
While the decision has divided opinion among pundits and fans alike, Webb believes it demonstrates the fine margins referees must navigate when applying subjective interpretations of the laws.
“The officials have to make that split-second call on whether a player in an offside position is affecting an opponent — and there will always be different perspectives on that,” he suggested.
The match itself saw City dominate for large spells after the Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed goal, eventually sealing the win through second-half strikes from Gonzalez and Doku.
But even amid their victory, the offside controversy remained the primary talking point — another flashpoint in the ongoing debate about VAR’s role in English football.
