Mark Clattenburg has explained why he thinks the officials were correct to disallow Harvey Elliott’s goal in Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Burnley on Boxing Day.
The 20-year-old was denied seeing his name in lights after a VAR review adjudged Mo Salah to have been in an offside position, but what it didn’t show to Paul Tierney (despite being broadcast to millions of TV viewers worldwide) was that the Egyptian was pushed forward by a Clarets player.
Jurgen Klopp justifiably castigated the decision afterwards, but speaking on Amazon Prime, the former Premier League referee gave a long-winded explanation for why he feels the officials got it right.
Clattenberg said (via Liverpool Echo): “I can see it from both sides. The referees are applying the laws of the game as they’re written – was Mo Salah in an offside position? Yes. Was he pushed in an offside position? Yes. Was that enough for a penalty? No. Factually he’s in an offside position. Is he in the line of the goalkeeper at the moment Elliott strikes the ball? Yes.
“You can argue the goalkeeper is going one way. Is he trying to go one way to save the ball? We don’t know; we’re not goalkeepers. Referees are only applying laws of the game as they’re written.
“What we look at as well is the distance. Mo Salah is quite close to [James] Trafford, the goalkeeper, in the six-yard box. If Mo Salah was five, ten metres further up it would give Trafford a chance to save the ball, but as the ball is struck there is an argument is Trafford going one way? Would he have had a chance to save it? That is not the referee’s decision, it’s applying the laws as they’re written.
“Was Mo Salah offside? Yes. Was he in the line of vision? Yes, so I can understand why it was ruled out. For me, the easiest decision for the referee once he’s gone to the screen is to disallow it.”
While Salah may have been in an offside position – and in Trafford’s eyeline – when Elliott fired towards goal, it was crystal clear on TV replays that he was pushed, as Clattenburg acknowledged.
It was also easy to spot that, at the moment that the Egyptian was shoved – just before Ryan Gravenberch put in the cross – he was very much onside (see screengrab below). Why that crucial factor wasn’t shown to Tierney by the VAR is baffling to the point of being somewhat suspicious.
You’d also have to ask why Clattenburg didn’t mention that in his concise analysis of what was an inexcusably poor call, and one which could’ve cost Liverpool had they not scored two legitimate goals which only scratched the surface of how dominant they were at Turf Moor.
When we’re seeing nonsense like this having a significant impact on matches in the Premier League – where every finishing position is worth millions to the clubs involved – it’s no wonder the public’s trust in top-flight officials and the operation of VAR is nonexistent.
It doesn’t help when you get prominent former referees trying to justify a decision which seems totally indefensible.
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