Liverpool: Virgil van Dijk disallowed equaliser explained as Howard Webb dubs decision 'not unreasonable' | OneFootball

Reds already raised ‘serious concerns’ with the decision

Howard Webb has backed VAR’s controversial decision to rule out Virgil van Dijk’s goal against Man City, describing the verdict as ‘not unreasonable’.

Man City went on to win 3-0, and Liverpool made a complaint to PGMOL about the decision, arguing Robertson had not impacted Donnarumma’s line of sight.

And the VAR officials’ deliberations have now been revealed on Sky Sports’ Match Officials Mic'd Up show.

In the clip, an assistant VAR immediately flags Robertson’s position and potential impact on Donnarumma. Michael Oliver’s on-field decision of offside was checked and subsequently confirmed.

Liverpool made a complaint to PGMOL over the decision to rule out Virgil van Dijk’s goal

AFP via Getty Images

Webb, the head of PGMOL, acknowledged the decision was complex and subjective, but insisted the officials were correct in their decision.

He said: "Interfering with an opponent where the offside position player doesn't play the ball and the officials have to make a judgment whether the actions of that player impact an opponent, are some of the most subjective decisions that we have to make.

"Therefore, it's no surprise that some people believe this goal should have stood, so I think it's important that we look at the facts of what actually happened in this situation.

"We know the corner comes in and the ball reaches Van Dijk. As the ball's coming across the penalty area, the Manchester City players move out, they leave Robertson in that offside position in the heart of the six-yard box.

"When Van Dijk heads the ball forward, that's the moment when we have to make an offside judgment about Robertson and about what he's doing there.

"We know he doesn't touch the ball but what does he do? Well, as the ball moves towards him, three yards out from goal, right in the middle of the six-yard box, he makes that clear action to duck below the ball.

"The ball goes just over his head, and the ball finds the goal in the half of the six-yard box where he is. Then, the officials have to make a judgment - did that clear action impact on Donnarumma, the goalkeeper, and his ability to save the ball? And that's where the subjectivity comes into play.

"Obviously, that's the conclusion they drew on that.”

He continued, adding that the decision was not clearly or obviously incorrect: “of course, once they've made that on-field decision, the job of the VAR is to look at that and decide, was the outcome of offside clearly and obviously wrong?

"Only Donnarumma truly knows if he was impacted by this and, of course, we have to look at the factual evidence, and when we see that factual evidence of that position of the player ducking below the ball, so close to the goalkeeper, the VAR determines that the outcome of offside is not clearly and obviously wrong, and they stay out of it.”