Mike Dean on Jota’s controversial Liverpool winner v Everton: ‘It’s probably wrong’
Mike Dean has suggested the offside law is currently wrong after Diogo Jota’s controversial winner for Liverpool against Everton.
Arne Slot’s side took another step towards the Premier League title on Wednesday night (2 April) with victory over the Toffees in the Merseyside derby at Anfield.
Liverpool claimed a 1-0 win over Everton in that match, thanks to Jota’s striker shortly before the hour-mark.
However, there was more than an element of controversy over the fact that the goal was allowed to stand given the involvement of Luis Diaz in the build up.
Now Dean has admitted that while there was no offence by the letter of the current law the regulations may not be properly drawn up for such situations.
Everton fume over Merseyside Derby winner with Luis Diaz offside
In the build up to the goal, Diaz had been stood in an offside position directly behind James Tarkowski as a pass was made towards the Colombian in the box.
Tarkowski lunged to intercept the ball, not knowing his opponent was offside, and Liverpool quickly won back possession before Jota played a one-two with Diaz that ended with the former firing home for what proved to be the winner.
Everton though argued that the goal should have been disallowed due to the presence of Diaz behind Tarkowski when he gave the ball away.
Now Dean has indicated that the fact the goal was allowed to stand may highlight issues with the offside law that need to be rectified.
| Liverpool last five games | Result |
| PSG (A) | Won 1-0 |
| Southampton (H) | Won 3-1 |
| PSG (H) | Lost 1-0 (lost 4-1 on penalties) |
| Newcastle (N) | Lost 2-1 |
| Everton (H) | Won 1-0 |
After being asked on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday if that winner for Liverpool should have been allowed to stand, the former Premier League referee said: “The way the law’s written yes it should have stood.
“He’s [Diaz] stood there and not made any attempt to go for the ball, so whether the law’s written wrong or not I don’t know.”
After he was then asked if he thinks the law is written correctly, Dean responded: “It’s 50-50. I think if the assistant referee gives offside on pitch then it’d probably go either way. I spoke to a few people this week, it can go either way.”
Reacting to that, Paul Merson noted: “I said straight away, ‘No it’ll be offside’, and you said, ‘No it won’t’. So I didn’t bother following up because you know the rules, but why’s he passing that ball into him?”
That prompted Dean to admit: “I get that because the guy who’s passing him the ball doesn’t know he’s offside, but the problem is the way the law’s written now to be stood in an offside position’s not an offence so he can stand there as long as he wants. He makes no attempt whatsoever to move towards the ball, he just stands still.”
When Kris Boyd then queried that if Tarkowski had not played the ball that Diaz would then have been offside, the ex-official concluded by replying: “Yeah of course he’s offside, yeah.
“But you’re not going to leave it as a defender are you, so Tarkowski’s slid over and just touched the ball, but unfortunately, the way the law’s written now he’s committed no offence, the attacker. It’s probably wrong because the toss of a coin, it’s one of them.”
Liverpool unlikely to be concerned by offside law claims
Football Insider Verdict
As Dean states, Diaz did not interfere with play as Tarkowski lost possession in the lead-up to that goal from Jota.
So it would feel harsh to disallow that Liverpool goal, especially when so much is made of the fact that fans ultimately want to see goals, so officials should not be looking for mores reasons to rule them out.
Indeed, even if this was not the correct decision, there is no chance of the match being replayed, so it is hard to see this being much of a consolation for Everton either.
This was of course not the only controversy from the derby, with Tarkowski lucky not to be sent off for a foul on Alexis Mac Allister.
The Reds are therefore not going to feel too concerned about some claims that their goal should have been ruled out for offside, especially when it has moved them even closer to the title.