Liverpool were dismantled 3-0 by Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium but under-fire boss Arne Slot claimed a controversial decision from the referee ended up costing his side
Arne Slot
Arne Slot had complaints about the referee vs Man City(Image: Getty Images)
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Arne Slot claimed Liverpool’s disallowed goal was ‘influential’ in their heavy defeat to Manchester City. The reigning Premier League champions fell to a 3-0 loss at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday - Erling Haaland, Nico Gonzalez and Jeremy Doku netting for Pep Guardiola’s side.
It represented Liverpool’s seventh defeat in their last ten games in all competitions, while it leaves them eighth in the Premier League table. And while his side were clearly second-best, Slot believes that Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed goal was pivotal in the result.
The Dutch defender thought he had equalised with a stunning header, only for the referee to rule the strike out due Andrew Robertson standing in an offside position. Speaking after the game, Liverpool boss Slot said: "Very difficult first half for us. You almost expect it when you go here - they were pressing us really high.
"We struggled a lot in the first half. You were hoping to get to the end of the first half 1-0. Then, of course, there was five-10 minutes influential to the game. Instead of going 1-1 or 2-1 it was 2-0 at half-time. First half, it was obvious that they were better than us."
Asked how decisive the decision was, Slot added: "It is difficult to give my view. It is obvious and clear that the wrong decision has been made at least in my opinion.
"He didn't interfere at all with what the goalkeeper could do. Immediately after the game someone showed me the goal that the same referee allowed - City against Wolves last season.
"So it took the linesman 13 seconds to raise his flag to say it was offside. So there was clearly communication, but as I said that could have influenced the game in a positive way for us."
Virgil van Dijk
Virgil van Dijk saw his goal ruled out vs Man City
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The Premier League have already explained why Van Dijk’s goal was ruled out. A statement from the Match Centre twitter account read: "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."
Meanwhile, Slot wasn’t the only one less than convinced about the decision. Former Manchester United star Gary Neville claimed he could sympathise with the Liverpool boss.
He said: "I know but I think he's outside of the line of the goalkeeper and the goalkeeper gets a clear view. You know the rules better than I do. You see Robertson there, Van Dijk's got a clear view. He can see it. He's got no position that he can stop. I think he's got every right to be fuming, Arne Slot."
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