Liverpool’s controversial disallowed goal at Manchester City was correctly not overturned by a video assistant review (VAR), an expert panel has ruled. However the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) panel, which reviews the big refereeing decisions each week, was split on the decision.
The five-person panel voted three to two that the on-field decision to disallow the goal was incorrect but also found that VAR was correct not to intervene. Liverpool captain Virgil Van Dijk thought he had equalised for Liverpool in the 38th minute of the match at Etihad Stadium earlier this month. City went on to win 3-0.
Referee Chris Kavanagh and his assistant Stuart Burt disallowed the goal, ruling that Andy Robertson had committed an offside offence by ducking under the ball on its way to goal. The decision, that Robertson’s obvious action could have impacted goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, was supported by the VAR team of Michael Oliver and Tim Wood.
Liverpool made contact with Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) to raise their concerns, believing the relevant criteria for an offside offence were not met. The KMI Panel, which features three former players and one representative each from the Premier League and PGMO, voted 3-2 that the assistant should not have given the offside, and also 3-2 that the VAR was right not to get involved.
It shows the highly subjective nature of the decision, which referees’ chief Howard Webb described as “not unreasonable”. The KMI Panel’s judgement revealed that the majority of the panel “felt that due to Robertson not being in the line of vision of the goalkeeper at the time of the header, and his subsequent actions not clearly impacting Donnarumma’s attempt to save the ball, the goal should have been awarded”.
However, while two of the five panel members “felt this was therefore a clear and obvious error”, one panel member judged “the movement in front of the goalkeeper meant that this was not a clear and obvious error, and VAR was correct to not intervene”. “This resulted in a split, correct, outcome post VAR (3:2). The two other panel members felt the obvious action of Robertson in front of the goalkeeper was impactful on Donnarumma’s attempt to save, and supported the on-field call of offside.”
The KMI Panel makes two separate judgements, taking into account the laws and expectations of how the game is refereed in the Premier League. The on-field call is a straight vote on the decision, with the potential VAR intervention weighted to a clear and obvious error. It means the KMI Panel can vote, as was the case for this disallowed goal, that it would have been better if the on-field call had been different but also that it was justifiable, so the VAR should not get involved.
The KMI Panel did log a VAR error in the Brentford v Newcastle game, when Dango Ouattara was booked for simulation after claiming a penalty following a challenge by Dan Burn in the 61st minute. “The panel were unanimous in their view that Burn commits a careless tripping offence on Outtara and that a penalty kick should have been awarded,” the report noted. “The panel were however split regarding the VAR outcome, with the majority feeling this was a clear and obvious error (2:3) due to the footage showing a clear error in not awarding a penalty. The two other members felt that the referee’s call should stand as this was not a clear and obvious error as the contact was glancing.”
All other decisions across the weekend were backed, including a 5-0 vote that referee Craig Pawson was correct not to award a penalty to Arsenal after Sunderland defender Dan Ballard had caught Mikel Merino with his elbow. The panel said: “The on-field call of no penalty was supported, with Ballard deemed to not commit a foul as any contact was a result of an expected footballing action in challenging an opponent for the ball.” -BBC
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