EPL Key Panel: Van Dijk's goal against Manchester City should be ruled valid

The Premier League Key Match Incident Panel believes that Van Dijk's goal against Manchester City should be ruled valid.

Reports claim that, according to the Premier League's Key Match Incidents Panel, the goal scored by Van Dijk when representing Liverpool against Manchester City last Sunday should have been ruled valid - but the panel also believes that VAR's decision not to overturn the on-field referee's call was correct.

The Times has learned that a panel consisting of three former players or coaches, a person from the Premier League, and a member of PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) has overruled the decisions of referee Chris Kavanagh and assistant referee Stuart Burt. The two had disallowed a goal that could have seen Liverpool level the score at 1-1. Ultimately, Liverpool lost 0-3. 

Liverpool manager Slot and his coaching staff were extremely angry about this crucial decision made in the 38th minute at the Etihad Stadium. Kavanagh and Burt believed that Liverpool defender Robertson, who was in an offside position inside the six-yard box, ducked when the ball flew into the goal over his head, thus interfering with the line of sight of Manchester City goalkeeper Donnarumma, and therefore disallowed Van Dijk's header. 

However, although the Premier League's Key Match Incidents Panel determined that Robertson did not have sufficient impact on Donnarumma and thus should not be judged offside, they also determined that the decision of Video Assistant Referee Michael Oliver not to intervene was correct.

VAR can overturn subjective decisions if there is an "obvious and clear error". However, in this offside decision, VAR cannot reverse the call because the on-field referee has already determined that Robertson was in an offside position and made a move that affected the goalkeeper. Therefore, the decisions of Kavanagh and Burt are almost impossible to be overturned.

After the game, Slot was furious. He said, "I think it's very obvious that the referee made a wrong decision. He (Robertson) didn't interfere with the goalkeeper's actions at all."

Liverpool was so furious that they proactively contacted PGMOL chief Howard Webb on Monday, expressing serious concerns about the penalty and its decision-making process, believing that the refereeing standards had not been correctly implemented. 

This week, Webb defended the decision to disallow the goal on the "Referee Mic" program. He admitted that Donnarumma "could see the ball throughout," but stated that the referee's ruling at the time "was not unreasonable." 

At that time, Liverpool was trailing by one goal. Van Dijk headed in a goal from a corner kick taken by Salah in the closing stages of the first half, directing the ball into a position out of reach for Donnarumma. 

But this goal was disallowed. Subsequently, Manchester City scored another goal before halftime, leading 2-0. Slot admitted that Liverpool had a poor first half but said, "This decision had a huge impact." 

Finally, Manchester City easily won the game and scored their third goal. Liverpool's fifth loss in the Premier League this season has left them with 18 points, currently sitting in eighth place, 8 points behind league leaders Arsenal.