Liverpool Have Appealed to PGMOL Over Van Dijk's Disallowed Goal Against Man City

In the blockbuster 11th round of the Premier League, Manchester City defeated Liverpool 3-0 at home.

Liverpool have appealed to the refereeing body over Virgil van Dijk's disallowed goal in Sunday's match against Manchester City. Despite the defending Premier League champions suffering a heavy defeat, Arne Slot did not attribute the loss to the decision. It is understood that the goal was overturned after a VAR review, as Liverpool left-back Andrew Robertson was in an offside position and deemed to have interfered with Man City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. The Scottish international ducked when Van Dijk took the shot, but the referees stood by the original decision.

Law 11 of the FA Rule Book states that a player in an offside position is only penalized "if they actively participate in play by: playing or touching the ball passed or touched by a teammate...". The clause continues: “...or interfering with an opponent by: clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of sight; challenging an opponent for the ball; clearly attempting to play the ball which is close when this action impacts on the opponent; or making an obvious action which impacts on the opponent’s ability to play the ball.”

Liverpool contacted PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited), led by former referee Howard Webb, this morning to question the decision to rule Robertson offside. The Reds reject the premise that the decision was based on subjective judgment, arguing that the wording of Law 11 should be based on objective criteria. Liverpool are therefore demanding that PGMOL clarify which specific elements of the rule were met.

Liverpool disputes the claim that Donnarumma was hindered by Robertson, stating that the Scottish captain was not in the goalkeeper’s line of sight. The club has reviewed match footage from multiple angles.