The referee's supervisor said that Van Dijk's goal was invalid: the referee subjectively believed that Robertson's interference was not inappropriate.
6686 Sports News on November 12 According to the BBC, the head of Premier League referees, Howard Webber, said on the "Referees' Voice" program that during Liverpool's match against Manchester City on Sunday, Van Dijk's goal was ruled out for offside due to teammate Robertson's offside. The decision of the referee team on duty was "not inappropriate."
"When a player in an offside position does not touch the ball, the referee needs to determine whether his behavior has an impact on the opponent. This type of 'interfering with the opponent' ruling is one of the most subjective rulings we face." Weber said, "Therefore, it is not surprising that some people think this goal should have been valid, so we need to clarify the truth at the time."
"We know that after the touchline kick was taken, The ball fell to Van Dyke. When the ball crossed the three-second zone, Manchester City players pressed forward, causing Robertson to be in an offside position in the middle of the small three-second zone. "When Van Dyke passed the ball, it was the critical moment when we needed to judge whether Robertson was offside and the nature of his behavior."
"We saw that he did not touch the ball, but what did he do? When the ball flew toward him, he was in the small three-second zone. He made a clear ducking move just 3 yards away from the goal. "
"The ball just flew over his head and fell into the small three-second zone on his side. At this time, the referee needs to judge - did this obvious action affect the goalkeeper Donnarumma's save judgment? "
"Obviously, the referee team came to this conclusion. They considered Robertson's position, movement, and his closeness to the goalkeeper, and finally formed the ruling. I know not everyone agrees, but it is not inappropriate to understand why they came to such a conclusion."
Liverpool coach Slott compared the ruling with a goal scored by Manchester City against Wolves last season: At that time, the goal was ruled invalid due to a similar offside, and the video referee finally changed the goal to be valid.
Webb responded: "There is an obvious difference between the two cases. In Manchester City's goal last season, the ball flew directly over the head of Wolves goalkeeper José Sa, not the head of Seat B."
"When Stones headed the ball, Seat B was in an offside position, but the key is that he moved to the left, away from the flight path of the ball. The ball flew directly over It passed over Sa and did not fly over the head of Seat B like Robertson who lowered his head to dodge. "Therefore, it is difficult to think that Sa's judgment was affected by Seat B's actions. If the ball flew over Seat B at that time, it might have caused Sa to hesitate because he was worried that the ball would hit Seat B. Then the video referee would uphold the ruling of 'invalid goal'."