Why Virgil van Dijk’s goal vs Man City was unfairly chalked off by VAR…

The reason Virgil van Dijk’s goal against Manchester City was unjustly disallowed by VAR.

Virgil van Dijk had his equalizer against Manchester City ruled out for offside.

The flag was raised after the Liverpool defender seemed to have leveled the score following Erling Haaland’s goal in the first half.

It was believed that Andy Robertson was in an offside position and obstructing Gianluigi Donnarumma’s view.

Van Dijk’s goal was annulled due to Robertson’s actions.

As per the Premier League match center, the VAR officials who assisted in the officiating of the match fully concurred with referee Chris Kavanagh’s assessment.

Not only was the Scottish left-back offside, but he was also thought to have made an ‘obvious action’ in front of the opposing goalkeeper.

What was that ‘obvious action’? Robertson ducked to evade Van Dijk’s headed attempt on goal, while allegedly obstructing the goalkeeper’s view.

According to the Premier League’s regulations, a player can be penalized 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 that is close when this action affects an opponent; or

– Making an obvious action that clearly impacts the opponent’s ability to play the ball.

Was this the correct decision by the referee?

In our opinion, the officiating crew at the Etihad Stadium made a significant error.

The former Hull City fullback was positioned in front of Donnarumma, but he was clearly not obstructing the Italy international’s line of sight.

Considering the angle of Van Dijk’s initial header and the positioning of the opposing goalkeeper, he had an almost clear line of sight.

Robertson instinctively ducked to avoid any accidental contact with the ball as it traveled towards the goal.

Looking at where the ball ultimately settled in the net, we can all agree that there was no way Donnarumma could have reached that shot.

Micah Richards and Roy Keane express their opinions on the disallowed goal by Liverpool.

During the commentary, Gary Neville concurred: “I believe [Robertson] is out of the goalkeeper’s line of sight.

“I think Slot has every right to be upset. The goalkeeper is not going to reach that. He had a clear view of the play.”

Liverpool, naturally, have not provided good value for their money throughout the match.

However, this decision significantly alters the dynamics of the game, preventing the Reds from having a chance to equalize before Nico Gonzalez’s speculative shot increased the lead for the home team.