An expert panel has determined that Liverpool’s disputed disallowed goal at Manchester City should not have been overturned by a video assistant review (VAR).
However, the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) panel, which assesses significant refereeing decisions weekly, was divided on the matter.
The five-member panel voted three to two, concluding that the on-field decision to disallow the goal was incorrect, yet they agreed that VAR was justified in not intervening.
Liverpool captain Virgil Van Dijk believed he had equalized in the 38th minute of the match at the Etihad Stadium earlier this month, but City ultimately won 3-0.
Referee Chris Kavanagh and assistant Stuart Burt ruled the goal out, claiming that Andy Robertson had committed an offside offense by ducking under the ball as it approached the goal.
The VAR team, consisting of Michael Oliver and Tim Wood, supported the decision, arguing that Robertson’s actions could have affected goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Liverpool reached out to the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) to express their concerns, asserting that the criteria for an offside offense were not met.
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The KMI Panel, which includes three former players and one representative each from the Premier League and PGMO, voted 3-2 against the assistant’s offside call, while also agreeing 3-2 that VAR was correct not to intervene.
This highlights the subjective nature of the decision, which referees’ chief Howard Webb described as “not unreasonable.”
The KMI Panel’s findings indicated that the majority believed Robertson was not in the goalkeeper’s line of sight at the time of the header and that his actions did not significantly impact Donnarumma’s ability to save the ball, suggesting the goal should have been allowed.
However, while two panel members viewed this as a clear and obvious error, one member argued that Robertson’s movement in front of the goalkeeper meant it was not a clear error, thus justifying VAR’s lack of intervention.
This resulted in a split decision, confirming the correctness of the VAR outcome (3:2).
The other two panel members felt that Robertson’s actions had a significant impact on Donnarumma’s save attempt, supporting the on-field offside decision.
The KMI Panel makes two separate assessments, considering the laws and expectations of Premier League officiating.
The on-field decision is voted on directly, while VAR intervention is judged based on whether there was a clear and obvious error.
This allows the KMI Panel to conclude that while the on-field decision could have been better, it was justifiable, and thus VAR should not have intervened.
Additionally, the KMI Panel identified a VAR error in the Brentford vs. Newcastle match, where Dango Ouattara was booked for simulation.
