Liverpool fans are still not happy about Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed goal that would have levelled the game vs Man City.
The Reds have had a few days now to mull over what went wrong against Man City, with their all-round performance simply not good enough.
However, things could have been very different if van Dijk’s goal was given, something that is still causing debate among Liverpool fans.
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Former referee Mark Clattenburg had already given his thoughts on why it was ruled out, but now he has noticed something else, with this perhaps ending the debate here.
Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool reacts towards Referee Chris Kavanagh after he awards a penalty to Manchester City following a foul on Jeremy Doku of Manchester City (not pictured) by Giorgi Mamardashvili of Liverpool (not pictured) during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool at Etihad Stadium
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Andy Robertson pushed Gianluigi Donnarumma in the build-up
A weekend of football hardly goes by without some sort of VAR controversy, and this was the big talking point over gameweek 11.
Many believe that Gianluigi Donnarumma’s sight was not actually impacted by Andy Robertson and that he could see the ball the whole way, while others think he was still interfering.
It could definitely have swung either way, although Clattenburg has admitted that upon further review, he thinks the correct decision was made.
“If you look and people don’t look at the overall picture, when the corner’s just taken, have a look what Andy Robertson does. Andy Robertson pushes the goalkeeper backwards,” he said on the Whistleblowers Podcast.
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“So Andy Robertson knows what he’s doing by being in that position. We’ve seen week in, week out over the last what three or four months clubs using every tactic in the book to gain an advantage.
“There’s another example on set plays where a team has used a player for a blocking purpose.”
Liverpool still deserved to lose
Although that goal really could have changed the entire game, mistakes happen and Liverpool cannot rely upon that, especially as the right decision might have even been made according to the letter of the law.
Across the 90 minutes, the Reds were way off the pace of Man City and were played off the park, with the gulf in quality clear to see.
The thing that would annoy them most, though, is that their goals, apart from the third, were rather lucky and avoidable, but that still does not mean they deserved something out of it.
Arne Slot has some big problems to solve, with the message being now to forget about the disallowed goal as it cannot be changed, and focus on putting things right next time.