Browsing: Dijk

Liverpool were denied an equaliser in the first half of their meeting with Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium in a decision that proved contentious.

The hosts went a goal ahead through Erling Haaland, having missed a penalty earlier in the half, but the Reds thought they’d got one back just under 10 minutes later when Virgil van Dijk nodded home a Mohamed Salah corner.

It wasn’t to be, however, with the fourth official quickly declaring offside and chalking the goal off, a decision both referee Chris Kavanagh and VAR agreed with.

You may like

The rule that denied Liverpool an equaliser against Manchester City

Andy Robertson was judged to be offside despite not touching the ball (Image credit: Getty Images)

Left-back Andy Robertson was the offending party, who had been left in the six-yard box as the City backline pushed up.

Van Dijk headed his effort straight at his fellow defender, but the Scotsman clearly ducked, made no contact with the ball, and it squeezed past the outstretched arm 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 rulebook, a player is offside, even if they don’t touch the ball, when interfering with an opponent.

One such example outlined in the laws states a player cannot make “an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball”.

The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.

While Robertson didn’t touch the ball or impede Donnarumma physically, and made every effort to get out of the way, he ducked late.

The Scotland international’s mere presence in the flight path of the ball could have created a flicker of doubt in the City gloveman’s mind about whether to dive, or hold his position to anticipate an extra touch from Robertson.

As he’s in an offside position, such an action is against the rules and the goal, therefore, cannot stand – the reasoning later confirmed by the Premier League Match Centre on X.

You may like

Van Dijk’s disallowed goal could have changed the course of the game had it stood (Image credit: Getty Images)

Despite the officials’ justified thinking, it was still a controversial decision, as subjective offsides often are.

“No, I wouldn’t agree with that, I think it’s harsh,” pundit and former City player Micah Richards told Sky Sports. “I think the goalkeeper can see it all the way.”

In FourFourTwo’s opinion, while Donnarumma doesn’t look like he’s reaching the header with Robertson there or not, it’s difficult to quantify whether Robertson’s presence delayed his move over to his left, and what impact that may have had on the save.

It’s a tight call, but the officials were probably right on balance.

Source link

Virgil van Dijk has said he called a players†meeting after Liverpoolâ€s defeat by Manchester United to lift the mood and remind the squad how quickly their fortunes could change. Liverpool ended a run of four consecutive defeats with a 5-1 rout of Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League on Wednesday, with Van Dijk one of five goalscorers. Arne Slot changed personnel and formation to spark an improvement in Germany.

His captain believes the clear-the-air talks contributed to the recovery. “On Monday, everyone was sad because we lost to Man United at home,†Van Dijk said. “We havenâ€t lost many games at home during my time at Liverpool. It was tough under the circumstances, so on Monday we came together, but it wasnâ€t a crisis meeting. We all know how things can change. Weâ€re only in October.

“Nobody wants to lose four games in a row, but it was the situation we faced. We had to stay calm and block out all the noise from the outside because thatâ€s something you canâ€t control. The only way to get out of a situation like that is to stay together, keep your mind on the task ahead, try to improve, keep the confidence, embrace the moment.

“They are all things that are easier to say than actually do. But if you want to get out of it, you have to do it. We live in a world now where there is always noise – always something to be said, always someone who knows is better. We have to stay focused on ourselves.â€

Van Dijk said there was a noticeable improvement in the atmosphere after the players†meeting. “Before my meeting yes [the mood was downbeat] but after my meeting everyone was happy.

“We had a proper debrief with the manager, but we also had a separate one as players. I wanted to say some things … Itâ€s not something I do after every game. Letâ€s keep it that way.â€

skip past newsletter promotion

Sign up to Football Daily

Kick off your evenings with the Guardian’s take on the world of football

Privacy Notice:Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

after newsletter promotion

Liverpool visit Brentford on Sunday with Alexander Isak and Jeremie Frimpong expected to miss out after sustaining groin and hamstring injuries respectively in Germany. Liverpool are awaiting confirmation on the extent of the injuries.

Source link

• 

  Beth LindopSep 28, 2025, 08:02 AM ET

  Close

  Based in Liverpool, Beth Lindop is ESPN’s Liverpool correspondent and also covers the WSL and UWCL.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has urged his team to “stay calm” after their 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace, but admits they will have to improve “pretty quickly” if they want to succeed this season.

The Premier League champions suffered their first defeat of the campaign at Selhurst Park thanks to a late strike from Palace substitute Eddie Nketiah. The result means title rivals Arsenal can close the gap on the league leaders to just two points with a victory against Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon.

“[We’re] disappointed in our performance,” Van Dijk said after the game.

“Disappointed in the loss, but especially the way we went about it. I think if we got a draw here then we took already one point too much. That is the feeling that we have right now. “I don’t think there is any reason to worry, but we have to improve pretty quickly because obviously we play [against Galatasaray in the Champions League] in Turkey on Tuesday.

We have a very difficult game there as well, so we have to be ready.”

Virgil van Dijk demanded improvement after Liverpool were again involved in a dramatic late finish, this time ending in defeat. Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

Having become the masters of scoring late goals this season, Liverpool thought they had managed to snatch a precious point against Palace when Federico Chiesa came off the bench to draw his team level in the 87th minute.

However, Oliver Glasner’s side could have put the game out of sight in the first half alone, with Alisson Becker making a succession of fine saves after Ismalia Sarr had opened the scoring.

“It was the basics that we didn’t do well,” Van Dijk said of his team’s first-half display. “Sometimes you can have these days. Hopefully, this is the only day this season that we do that.

“There is a reason they were 17, now 18, games unbeaten. They are very difficult to break down, very disciplined, they defend deep and they don’t mind that, and they have the quality on the break to hurt you.But it started all with ourselves. We were sloppy in possession, didn’t win our second ball fight, and we created momentum for them. They could have been three or four up by half-time.

“We are lucky that we have, in my opinion, the best goalkeeper in the world to save us. If we had a draw, we had one point too much.”

– Transfer rumours: Liverpool to rival Man United for Branthwaite
– Lindop: Liverpool need to learn after latest dramatic late finish
– Slot: Liverpool ‘deserved’ first loss of the season

The Liverpool defender added: “There are loads of challenges throughout the whole season. Everyone has to deal with it in their own way, but obviously as a team we have to deal with it as well.

“The biggest challenge now is to stay calm. I mentioned it many times: never get too high or too low. Just work and don’t listen to the outside world too much.

“You know when you can do better and today everyone knew that. We have another opportunity on Tuesday in a very interesting stadium, big crowd, Champions League, to turn it around again and focus on the next one and next one.”

Source link

Sep 21, 2025, 05:06 AM ETLiverpool captain Virgil van Dijk believes Ryan Gravenberch is in the form of his life…