Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over Chelsea in Sunday’s League Cup final witnessed what some considered to be a very controversial decision.
Virgil van Dijk scored the winner deep into extra time but the Liverpool captain had earlier had a goal disallowed for a subjective offside call.
The Dutchman had been clearly onside before he aimed a magnificent header past the Blues keeper, but a lengthy VAR review then ruled the goal out for an offside call against Wataru Endo.
After consulting the pitch-side monitor, the referee deemed that Endo – who was stood in an offside position when Andy Robertson crossed the ball – had been interfering with play because he prevented Levi Colwill from challenging Van Dijk.
beIN SPORTS presenters Richard Keys and Andy Gray reacted to the decision by lambasting the officials, accusing them of “killing the game”.
Keys said that “11 times out of 10”, this would have been a perfectly fine goal, while Andy Gray claimed that he was “flabbergasted” by the decision.
Many fans also vented their frustration via social media, claiming that Van Dijk’s goal had been “wrongly disallowed”.
However, Ben Campbell, who is the Head of Communications at the Professional Game Match Officials Board, told CaughtOffside.com that the correct call had been made.
Quoting from the laws of the game, the PGMOL representative said: “If a player moving from, or standing in, an offside position is in the way of an opponent and interferes with the movement of the opponent towards the ball, this is an offside offence if it impacts on the ability of the opponent to play or challenge for the ball.”
