Liverpool’s Disallowed Goal Decision: Key Insights from the KMI Panel

Liverpool faced a challenging match against Manchester City, culminating in a 3-0 defeat, which was partly marked by a controversial disallowed goal involving Andrew Robertson, who was penalised for ducking beneath a header from Virgil van Dijk.

An expert panel from the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) reviewed the incident and confirmed that the decision to disallow the goal was indeed a contentious one. The panel was divided on the matter, with a 3-2 vote indicating that while the on-field decision was incorrect, the VAR’s choice not to intervene was justified.

During the match at Etihad Stadium, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk believed he had equalised in the 38th minute, only for referee Chris Kavanagh and assistant Stuart Burt to disallow the goal on the grounds that Robertson had committed an offside offence by ducking under the ball.

The VAR team, comprising Michael Oliver and Tim Wood, supported the initial decision, positing that Robertson’s actions could potentially have affected goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma’s ability to save the shot. Liverpool subsequently reached out to the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) to express concerns that the criteria for an offside offence were not met.

The KMI panel, consisting of three former players alongside representatives from the Premier League and PGMO, voted 3-2 against the offside call, emphasizing the highly subjective nature of refereeing decisions. Howard Webb, the referees’ chief, described the on-field decision as “not unreasonable.”

The panel’s judgement indicated that a majority believed Robertson was not in the goalkeeper’s line of vision at the time of the header, and his actions did not evidently hinder Donnarumma’s save attempt. However, two panel members felt that Robertson’s presence before the goalkeeper was impactful enough to uphold the initial offside decision.

The KMI panel’s evaluations consider both the laws of the game and the expectations surrounding officiating in the Premier League, resulting in a nuanced outcome. They may find that while a different on-field call would have been preferable, the original decision was defensible, thus justifying the lack of VAR intervention.

In another notable decision, the panel identified a VAR error in the Brentford vs. Newcastle match, where a penalty was unjustly denied after a foul by Dan Burn. The panel unanimously agreed that a penalty should have been awarded.

Despite some discrepancies, the panel upheld a clean record for other officiating decisions across the weekend, including a unanimous agreement that referee Craig Pawson correctly negated a penalty for Arsenal following contact involving Sunderland defender Dan Ballard.