‘Massive’ – PGMOL told to order drastic rule change after Man City vs Liverpool controversy
Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed goal in Liverpool’s 3-0 loss to Man City should force a rule change in the Premier League around players being penalised for being in the eyeline of the goalkeeper.
That is according to Premier League legend Matt Le Tissier, who has exclusively told Football Insider that Andy Robertson‘s role in the equaliser needed to be looked at with more common sense by the VAR officials.
Man City beat Liverpool 3-0 on Sunday (9 November) afternoon, but things could have been different had Virgil Van Dijk‘s goal been allowed to stand to make it 1-1 in the first-half.
The Dutchman headed past Gianluigi Donnarumma with aplomb in the 38th minute, but saw the goal ruled out due to Robertson being offside and impacting the City keeper’s ability to make a save.
Erling Haaland had put the hosts in front with a well-placed header before the incident, as Nico Gonzalez then doubled their lead just before the break and Jeremy Doku grabbed a fine goal in the second-half to complete a comfortable victory.
Virgil van Dijk equaliser ruled out due to Andy Robertson impacting Gianluigi Donnarumma
Van Dijk thought he had brought the Reds level at the Etihad Stadium but quickly saw his celebrations cut short as the assistant referee flagged for offside against Robertson.
The left-back was stood on the wrong side of the defence as he ducked under the header, with VAR confirming the on-field decision of no goal after a review as he was adjudged to have impeded Donnarumma.
Former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett told Football Insider that Liverpool had a perfectly good goal ruled out against Man City as the City stopper had a clear line of sight.
It was the second incident of its kind in the Premier League in a matter of weeks after Jake O’Brien saw a goal ruled out against Tottenham for Iliman Ndiaye and Jack Grealish being stood in front of Guglielmo Vicario last month.
Le Tissier calls for rule change and more ‘nuance’ after disallowed goal killed off Liverpool’s comeback chances
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, former England and Southampton striker Le Tissier urged PGMOL to consider proposing a change to the rules around players being in the goalkeeper’s eyeline to allow a wider interpretation of what is considered an offence.
He said: “This whole thing of just going, well, if he’s in line of sight of the goalkeeper, we’re going to disallow it, I think it’s too black and white.
“I think there needs to be a bit of nuance there, and I’d like to see the law changed a little bit where the referee can use his common sense or the VAR can use their common sense and just ask the question.
“At the end of all of it, ask the question, do I think the goalkeeper would have got it had he not been there? And it’s a pretty simple question. Most football people will be able to look at that and go, yeah, he probably wouldn’t have done it, actually, so I think we should allow this goal.
“It would have been a massive change in the momentum of the game. There’s no doubt about that. You know, you’re at 1-0 and you get back to 1-1. The impetus is with you.
“And it’s difficult then for the opposition to kind of change that impetus again, whereas they go and then get the second goal. All of a sudden, Liverpool are down and out, really. Their confidence is not great at the moment.”