Liverpool get new 'clear and obvious' verdict after PGMOL contact over Virgil van Dijk decision

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Former Premier League referee Chris Foy has claimed that there was "not a clear and obvious error" leading up to Virgil van Dijk's disallowed goal during Liverpool's 3-0 defeat at Manchester City .

After Erling Haaland put City in front just before the half hour mark, the Reds thought they had equalised moments later when Van Dijk headed home Mohamed Salah's corner. However, as Van Dijk reeled off to celebrate with his team-mates, assistant referee Stuart Burt lifted up his flag and ruled that Andy Robertson was impacting Gianluigi Donnarumma's view while in an offside position.

VAR took a closer look at the incident , but decided that Burt made the correct call and the goal was disallowed - much to the frustration of the Liverpool players and their manager Arne Slot . Indeed, the Reds head coach fumed in his post-match press conference and claimed that it was "obvious" the "wrong decision" was made.

On Monday, Liverpool contacted Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) chief Howard Webb to raise "concerns" about Van Dijk's disallowed goal. The Reds told the referees' organisation that they don't accept the decision to rule the goal out was made for subjective reasons.

Now, ex-Premier League official Foy has weighed in with his verdict. While he said he would have preferred if Van Dijk's goal stood, he didn't think there was a clear and obvious mistake.

Foy told The Guardian: "There was one big incident that grabbed all the headlines and prompted conversation this weekend in the Premier League ; the decision by the referee Chris Kavanagh to deny Liverpool an equalising goal in their high-stakes match against Manchester City. The decision is massively subjective, in my opinion, but not a clear and obvious error.

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"Starting from the top; the ball is in the back of the net after Virgil van Dijk's header from a corner, and the assistant referee, Stuart Burt, flags for offside. The offside player is Andy Robertson, who is in the goal area.

"When the ball is headed by Van Dijk, Robertson is standing almost in front of the goalkeeper. He then shifts to his left, shifts forward and, with the ball about to strike him, he ducks out of the way and the ball ends up in the net.

"The goal is disallowed on field, because the flag went up, but as we know when goals are scored they are automatically checked by VAR.

"To be in an offside position is not an offence in itself; it only matters when you become involved in active play. Robertson was penalised because he was deemed to have made an obvious action that impacted the ability of an opponent, in this case Gianluigi Donnarumma, to play the ball.

"You can't say for sure whether or not Donnarumma would have got the ball and for the video assistant referee, Michael Oliver, to overturn the on-field call he has to have clear evidence that Donnarumma was not impacted. For a VAR intervention you need clear evidence to overturn a decision and there wasn't any."

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