H. Webbas explained the decision not to count V. van Dijk's goal

2025-11-12 10:08 © „Reuters“

In England, discussions continue regarding the unawarded goal by Virgil van Dijk in the Sunday "Premier" League match between "Manchester City" and "Liverpool".

The captain of "Liverpool" scored accurately from a corner kick, but after a brief pause, the assistant referee signaled an offside against Andy Robertson, who was standing in front of "City" goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

After this match, "Liverpool" contacted the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) for clarification on the situation.

PGMOL chief Howard Webb confirmed on TNT that he believes the referees made the right decision and that VAR had no grounds to intervene in the situation.

"I understand that everyone interprets such situations differently, but it is certainly understandable why the referees ultimately came to such a decision.

When a player is standing so close to the goalkeeper and the ball is coming directly at him, needing him to even bend down, we can conclude that this affects the goalkeeper's ability to save the shot."

"When the referees make a decision on the field, VAR checks whether there has been an obvious error. Since this situation was not such, VAR simply did not intervene," stated H. Webb.