Online Reporter
MANCHESTER CITY have been on the right side of the same VAR controversy for THREE straight years.
Pep Guardiola’s side benefited from the video ref in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Liverpool.
City were 1-0 up when Virgil van Dijk headed home to equalise.
However, his goal was eventually ruled out for offside by VAR.
While Van Dijk was not in an illegal position when he scored, team-mate Andy Robertson was deemed to be.
The left-back was stood offside as Van Dijk headed home.
Despite that, Robertson did not touch the ball as it went in.
But VAR ruled that his position had interfered in play, even thought he was not directly blocking City goalie Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Liverpool’s disallowed goal sparked fury from Arne Slot after the final whistle.
He even pointed to referee Chris Kavanagh ALLOWING the exact same goal in City’s favour during last season’s clash against Wolves.
John Stones headed home at the death to give City the win this time last year.
However, it was only allowed after a lengthy VAR check.
Bernardo Silva looked to be clearly impeding Wolves goalie Jose Sa while being offside.
Yet it was eventually decided that City’s goal was allowed to stand.
Rewinding a further year back, Guardiola’s men benefited from the same decision for a third time.
Nathan Ake scored in a win over Fulham in September 2023, leaving the Cottagers fuming.
They were adamant that Manuel Akanji had interfered in play by challenging for the ball and attempting to play it while being offside.
But VAR decided to not interfere and backed ref Michael Oliver’s decision to let Ake’s goal stand.
Slot certainly didn’t hold back as he reacted to City’s controversial decision against Liverpool on Sunday.
He said: “It’s difficult for me to give my view about it. I think it’s obvious and clear that the wrong decision has been made, at least in my opinion.
“(Why do you think that?) Because he (Robertson) didn’t interfere at all with what the goalkeeper could do.
“Immediately after the game, someone showed me the goal, that what the same referee allowed City against Wolves last season.
“So it took the linesman 13 seconds to raise his flag to say it’s offside. So there was clearly communication.
“But, as I said, that could have influenced the game in a positive way for us, because in the first half we were so poor.
“But, yeah, a set-piece can make a difference. And now we conceded the 2-0 from a set-piece. That was maybe a fair reflection of the first half, by the way, us being 2-0 down. But that’s maybe not what it’s about.”
Liverpool captain Van Dijk also had his say on the incident and his side’s disappointing defeat.
The Dutchman added: “In football the officials are deciding the key decisions and we have to deal with it on the pitch. There is no point discussing this from my point of view. The reality is that we lost 3-0 and that is a big blow.
“It doesn’t matter what I say [about the goal] because anything I say will be in the media and the whole international break will be about my comment on the decision. I just focus on the fact we lost. You guys can debate if it should have stood.
“The first half was difficult, and they were much more comfortable on the ball, and it was difficult for our guys to put pressure on them.
“I don’t think there was a lot of danger, but Doku had a good game, and it was difficult for Conor (Bradley) in the one on one at times. I don’t think we were much in trouble, but we could have done better.
“We had to dig deep in the second half. We got more momentum in possession, but our pressing wasn’t good enough.
“It’s about finding consistency and carrying on. Now we go to our countries, stay fit and be ready for a big run after.
“We are not going to give up whatsoever. We are in November, and we are ready for a long season and a big fight.” -Sun
