There was always going to be scrutiny on the officials after back-to-back incidents left us questioning how two almost identical moments produced completely different outcomes.
Speaking on X, content creator Mark Goldbridge wrote that “It is madness tbf. Van Dijk goal ruled out and then Forest player in front of Liverpool keeper and given. PGMOL are a joke.”
His assessment touched on the wider frustration many have expressed about the inconsistencies we faced across the Manchester City and Nottingham Forest fixtures.
Our captain thought he had headed us level at the Etihad when the Dutchman rose above the City defence, only for the goal to be disallowed because Andy Robertson was judged to have made a deliberate action by ducking beneath the ball from an offside position.
That sequence was explained in detail on the Mic’d Up broadcast, where Howard Webb said “the player is so close to the goalkeeper, the ball’s coming right towards him and he has to duck… they form the conclusion that that impacts [the keeper’s] ability to dive.”
Liverpool frustration grows after double standard on offside decisions
Yet in our next match, Nottingham Forest took the lead at Anfield with Dan Ndoye standing in front of Alisson from a corner, only this time it was deemed he was not affecting our goalkeeper. The contradiction is clear.
Robertson was penalised because he made a movement, while Ndoye stood still, but in both cases the keeper’s line of sight was not obstructed.
This is where Goldbridge’s point resonates, because even a rival supporter is highlighting the same issue many have discussed.
It also invites reference to last season where Webb justified John Stones’ goal being allowed for Man City, reinforcing the sense that similar moments are judged differently.
Liverpool hope officiating clarity improves as momentum slips away
The harsh truth is that neither decision changes how poorly we performed against Forest, but key moments still alter the rhythm of games.
A leveller at City would have shifted the contest, and an offside call going in our favour at Anfield might have offered stability before Forest struck again.
All fans probably want goals in all these incidents, and while officiating inconsistency should not mask our own issues, consistency from officials would at least remove unnecessary contradictions.
For now, Goldbridge’s blunt assessment reflects a growing theme of confusion, with the lack of alignment across decisions leaving us asking the same familiar question: how can almost identical incidents produce such different outcomes?
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Could we just bang a few heads together and get them to agree if a player is in an offside position when a goal is scored, how big an area around the goalie is needed to decide if he’s impacting the goal keepers decision making ?
And when the law makers have come to a decision could they officially let the fans know ?
Is it starting to look very contrived and possibly obstructed for some reason ?
Both decisions were correct. If a player is moving, that means he’s playing the ball. If he’s standing still, that means he’s not interfering with play and therefore, not offside. He would be wrong only if he was standing in the eyeliner of the goalkeeper
If that is the case, why was John Stones’ header allowed last season v Wolves in an incident identical to Van Dijk’s disallowed goal v Man City? Both players (Robertson and Bernardo Silva) were moving, so why the different outcome?
They are refs and have always been biased towards teams. I am 58 and have seen it for decades. VAR just slows down how we see their bias. Thats why a computer-generated system is faultless. No human error or bias.
Agreed, these biased decisions are affecting club’s entire games. Please let’s aliviate these deliberate and corrupt decisions from biased VAR.