Premier League referee at centre of VAR nightmare for THIRD TIME after Virgil van Dijk decision

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As Liverpool fans sift through the wreckage of Sunday's crushing 3-0 defeat away to Manchester City , the forensic analysis into Virgil van Dijk's disallowed goal rages on. With City leading 1-0 thanks to an Erling Haaland header midway through the first half, Liverpool put the ball in the net and looked to have equalised.

Van Dijk's powerful header beat Gianluigi Donnarumma and the Liverpool captain went off celebrating. Donnarumma appeared to have no chance of stopping the ball from flying in, but City's goalkeeper immediately pointed out that Andy Robertson - in an offside position - had made a run across goal before ducking.

The assistant referee spotted the offside, raising his flag. Referee Chris Kavanagh concurred and the goal was controversially ruled out .

Cue the furore in the away end and on the touchline, as Arne Slot understandably wasn't happy with the decision . "It's obvious and clear the wrong decision was made," the Liverpool boss argued post-match.

Slot also brought up how City had been awarded a 95th-minute winner in similar circumstances last season against Wolves - also when Kavanagh was in charge. But what the Liverpool manager may not remember is that there's another example of Kavanagh being in the thick of an incident like this, and unlike when City beat Wolves, the goal was disallowed.

In the dying embers of March 2020's clash between Everton and Manchester United at Goodison Park, the hosts had a late winner ruled out for offside. Dominic Calvert-Lewin's shot was deflected towards goal and Gylfi Sigurdsson - who was offside - moved to let the ball go past him and beyond David de Gea .

United were furious, arguing that Sigurdsson had interfered with play. VAR came to the Red Devils' rescue and the goal was chalked off by the technology .

Calvert-Lewin labelled the decision a 'disaster' while Carlo Ancelotti was shown a red card for remonstrating with the referee, Kavanagh.

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Now to the incident that Slot recalled. In the fifth minute of stoppage time at Molineux last October, John Stones snatched all three points for City much to Wolves' fury.

On-field, Stones' header was ruled out due to Bernardo Silva being in Jose Sa's line of vision, but Kavanagh ended up giving the goal after being called to the pitch-side monitor. Silva ducked as the ball came flying towards Sa and into the net.

The Premier League began providing in-game updates for VAR decisions in 2024. A post from their Match Centre account on social media platform X read: "Stones' goal was disallowed on-field due to Bernardo Silva being in an offside position and in the goalkeeper's line of vision.

"The VAR deemed Bernardo Silva wasn't in the line of vision and had no impact on the goalkeeper and recommended an on-field review. The referee overturned his original decision and a goal was awarded."

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And finally, Kavanagh's third and most recent controversy. We've explained the events, so let's see what the Match Centre had to say.

"The referee's call of offside and no goal to Liverpool was checked and confirmed by VAR - with Robertson in an offside position and deemed to be making an obvious action directly in front of the goalkeeper," their post read.

Should Virgil van Dijk's goal have been allowed? Have your say in the comments section .

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Ultimately, it's a subjective call and one which has seen Kavanagh come in for plenty of criticism. Officials are advised to leave subjective offside decisions to VAR, which ultimate stuck with the referee's on-field decision.

On Tuesday, fans will get a response from Howard Webb , head of the PGMOL. Webb is expected to discuss the incident on the upcoming episode on Match Officials Mic'd Up and Liverpool supporters will no-doubt be tuning in, as they go into the international break thinking of what might've been.

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