The Premier League Match Centre have issued a statement after Virgil van Dijk saw a goal ruled out for Liverpool away at Manchester City. The Dutch centre-back thought he'd headed his side level at the Etihad only for his header to be chalked off because of Andy Robertson's positioning as the ball hit the back of the net.
The Scottish left-back was accused of blocking Gianluigi Donnarumma's view although replays appeared to show the Italian goalkeeper had a clear line of sight to Van Dijk. The Premier League explained on X: "#MCILIV – 38’ The referee's call of offside and no goal to Liverpool was checked and confirmed by VAR – with Robertson in an offside position and deemed to be making an obvious action directly in front of the goalkeeper."
City poured salt in Liverpool's wounds moments later when Nico Gonzalez's strike deflected off Virgil van Dijk to make it 2-0. Erling Haaland had earlier headed the hosts in front courtesy of a deflection off of Ibrahima Konate. The Norwegian centre-forward did miss a penalty just 12 minutes in, with Giorgi Mamardashvili guessing the right way after fouling Jeremy Doku inside the box.
The Premier League Match Centre also explained that decision on social media: "#MCILIV – 9’ VAR OVERTURN. After review, the referee overturned the original decision of no penalty to Manchester City. Referee announcement: 'After review, the goalkeeper commits a foul challenge on the attacker, the final decision is penalty.'"