Liverpool’s Disallowed Goal: Insights from the KMI Panel

Liverpool suffered a 3-0 defeat after Andrew Robertson was penalised for ducking under Virgil van Dijk’s header, leading to a controversial disallowed goal during their match against Manchester City.

The Premier League’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) panel, which evaluates significant refereeing decisions weekly, recently reviewed this incident and ruled that the decision to uphold the offside call was correct, despite a split vote among panel members.

The five-member panel voted three to two, indicating that while the on-field decision to disallow the goal was deemed incorrect by the majority, they affirmed that VAR was right not to intervene in this case.

During the match at Etihad Stadium earlier this month, Liverpool’s captain Virgil Van Dijk believed he had equalised in the 38th minute. The goal was disallowed by referee Chris Kavanagh and assistant Stuart Burt, who ruled that Robertson’s actions constituted an offside infringement as he ducked under the ball on its path to the goal.

The officiating team, including VAR officials Michael Oliver and Tim Wood, supported the decision, citing that Robertson’s actions could have impacted goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma’s ability to save the ball. This ruling led Liverpool to contact the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) to express their concerns, arguing that the criteria for an offside decision were not met.

The KMI panel, composed of former players and representatives from the Premier League and PGMO, assessed the incident thoroughly. The majority felt that since Robertson was not in the goalkeeper’s line of vision at the moment of the header and his actions did not significantly affect Donnarumma’s attempt to save, the goal should have been awarded.

However, opinions diverged on whether the error was clear and obvious. While two members believed it constituted a clear mistake, one member contended that Robertson’s movement in front of Donnarumma justified the decision to not intervene. As a result, the KMI panel reached a split verdict, affirming the on-field decision while recognizing it would have been preferable if it had been different.

In addition, the KMI panel identified a VAR error in a separate incident during the Brentford vs. Newcastle match, where Dango Ouattara was incorrectly penalised for simulation following a challenge by Dan Burn. The panel unanimously agreed that a penalty should have been awarded to Ouattara due to a careless tripping offence.

Overall, the KMI panel supported all other officiating decisions from the weekend, including a unanimous vote confirming that referee Craig Pawson correctly refrained from awarding a penalty to Arsenal in their match against Sunderland.