by Howard Webb said officials did not behave inappropriately when they denied Liverpool an equalizer against Manchester City last weekend, but did not believe the controversial decision was right.
Virgil van Dijk’s header was disallowed by referee Chris Kavanagh and not overturned by video assistant referee Michael Oliver after Andy Robertson was judged to have had an impact on City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma while he was offside.
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The call was widely criticized after the game and Liverpool subsequently wrote to Webb’s PGMO organization to challenge the decision.
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The offside law allows referees to penalize a player, even if he does not touch the ball, if he is found to be interfering with an opponent by “performing an obvious act that clearly affects an opponent’s ability to play the ball.”
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Speaking on Referees Mic’d Up, the regular TV broadcast of referees’ latest decisions, Webb was challenged by presenter Michael Owen. The former Liverpool star said he “strongly believes” the goal should have stood.
In outlining the officials’ thought process, Webb admitted that “only Donnarumma really knows if he was affected” but said there was enough evidence to lead Kavanagh to take the action he did, with Robertson dodging the ball a key action.
“It is not unreasonable to understand why they come to this conclusion [of disallowing the goal] When the player is so close to the goalkeeper, the ball comes straight towards him and [Robertson] “You have to duck to get out of the way of the ball,” Webb said. “They conclude that it affects Donnarumma’s ability to simply jump on the ball and save it.”
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After Owen suggested that Robertson’s decision to duck actually appeared to be an attempt not to interfere with play, Webb said: “This action could still cause hesitation in the goalkeeper. Goalkeepers work with reactions that allow for some incredible saves to be made. And that is the judgment that will be made on the pitch.” Oliver could only have reversed Kavanagh’s decision if he believed the referee had made a “clear and obvious” error.
After the game, Liverpool coach Arne Slot compared Robertson’s decision to a similar decision that went in Manchester City’s favor last season against Wolves, when a goal from John Stones was awarded despite Bernardo Silva being offside in the six-yard box and close to the goalkeeper.
When asked by Owen to watch the footage, Webb said it was a different case as Silva had been standing behind Wolves goalkeeper José Sá and moving away from him. “I think there is a clear difference in that the ball goes directly over the head of goalkeeper Jose Sa [before Silva can make an impact]” said Webb. “It doesn’t go over the head like it went over the head of Robertson who ducked under it. What’s important is that Silva moves to the left, away from the flight of the ball and the ball goes straight over the goalkeeper.”
