The Anfield side had a potential leveller waved away during the initial 45 minutes of their contest against the Sky Blues at the home of Manchester City in a verdict that sparked debate.
The Sky Blues took the lead thanks to Erling Haaland, after he had previously missed from the penalty spot, but the travelling Merseysiders believed they had equalised less than 10 minutes later when Virgil van Dijk headed in a corner kick from Mohamed Salah.
However, it was not to be, as the fourth official immediately signalled for offside, disallowing the goal, a decision that both referee Chris Kavanagh and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) concurred with.
The regulation that prevented Liverpool from drawing level against Manchester City
Van Dijk headed his attempt directly towards his defensive colleague, but the Scottish international clearly stooped to avoid contact with the ball, which subsequently evaded the outstretched hand of Gianluigi Donnarumma.
“I think it’s really harsh”Micah Richards and Roy Keane share their thoughts on the disallowed Liverpool goal 🔍 pic.twitter.com/MqIah11v1uNovember 9, 2025
However, according to the rules of the game, a player can be deemed offside, even if they do not touch the ball, if they are considered to be interfering with an opponent.
One such scenario detailed within the regulations stipulates that a player cannot make “an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball”.
Although Robertson didn’t touch the ball or physically impede Donnarumma, and actively tried to avoid doing so, his ducking motion occurred late.
The mere presence of the Scottish international in the ball’s trajectory might have introduced a moment of uncertainty in the mind of the Manchester City goalkeeper, regarding whether to make a dive or maintain his position in anticipation of an additional touch from Robertson.
Given his offside position, such an action contravenes the regulations, rendering the goal invalid – a rationale subsequently affirmed by the Premier League Match Centre on the social media platform X.
Despite the officials having a justifiable rationale, the verdict remained contentious, as is often the case with subjective offside decisions.
“No, I wouldn’t concur with that, I believe it’s unfair,” commented Micah Richards, a pundit and former Manchester City player, to Sky Sports. “I think the goalkeeper had a clear view of it throughout.”
In FourFourTwo’s assessment, while it doesn’t appear that Donnarumma would have reached the header regardless of Robertson’s presence, it remains challenging to precisely determine whether Robertson’s location delayed his movement to his left, and to what extent that may have influenced his attempted save.
It’s a marginal decision, but the officials were likely correct based on the available information.
