Plenty has been said about offside decisions this season, but one comment from a former official has added a new layer to the debate.
Dermot Gallagher on Liverpool’s disallowed goal and decision shift
Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool scores a goal past Gianluigi Donnarumma of Manchester City as Andrew Robertson of Liverpool ducks and is later adjudged to have been in an offside position
(Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
As reported by Sky Sports, former referee Dermot Gallagher admitted that officials have now “learnt” from the situation involving our disallowed goal at the Etihad.
He said: “The difference is Robertson moves. He moves to the ball.”
Gallagher added: “Last week it was said the Liverpool goal should have been a goal. This week two have been given as goals. You could say everyone has looked and learnt.”
His assessment continued the theme of inconsistency that has been highlighted since that moment.
“If you want consistency, every goal would be disallowed,” the former Premier League official added.
“They have actually recognised and thought in this situation the more acceptable situation is a goal. They have actually given people what they want.”
Those words come after Howard Webb gave a detailed explanation of why Andy Robertson was judged to have interfered from an offside position at Manchester City, describing how “the player is so close to the goalkeeper… and he has to duck,” something that formed the conclusion to rule out Virgil van Dijk’s header.
It now looks even more curious that subsequent goals across the division have been allowed, particularly the ones scored this weekend by Nottingham Forest and Arsenal in circumstances remarkably similar to ours.
The frustration naturally deepened during our defeat to Forest, where Dan Ndoye stood in front of Alisson as Murillo fired past him, yet the goal stood because the forward was deemed passive.
It was this contrasting scenario that prompted Dermot Gallagher to say that “they haven’t been inconsistent,” even though many supporters may feel the opposite.
The contradiction also echoed what Mark Goldbridge wrote on X when he said it was “madness” that our goal was disallowed while Forest benefited from almost the same situation.
Why Liverpool feel the standard keeps shifting each week
Murillo celebrates scoring at Anfield
(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
The wider issue is not about one moment but about how decisions appear to move depending on the fixture.
Our home defeat to Forest was already bruising, as it was only the fourth time a visiting team had beaten us at Anfield by three or more goals in the Premier League.
But that offside call reopened the broader conversation about how we are judged differently in key moments, especially when Gallagher is now openly acknowledging that the gameweek after our incident saw “two goals given” that resembled the one we had chalked off.
One week Webb explained the offside interpretation in microscopic detail, and the next we see all goals given – which is why people like Goldbridge take to social media to say the “PGMOL are a joke.”
For us, the hope is simple. If decisions continue to be judged by the same framework used in favour of Arsenal and Forest, then at least the goalposts stop moving.
Gallagher’s admission suggests the refereeing group may now have settled on a clearer interpretation.
The frustration, though, is that Liverpool were the ones caught out before that shift happened.
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