PGMOL chief Howard Webb has declared it “not unreasonable” that officials ruled out Virgil van Dijk‘s goal against Man City after Andy Robertson was ruled offside.

Van Dijk had appeared to equalise for Liverpool in the first half against Man City after converting Mo is wrong‘s corner delivery, only for the linesman to rule an offside infringement.

Andy Robertson was deemed to have impeded goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma from an offside position, with VAR Michael Oliver subsequently confirming the on-field decision.

Liverpool have since contacted Webb to raise concerns over VAR’s procedures when reviewing the goal, as they believe Robertson did not meet the criteria to rule it out.

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In the latest episode of Match Officials Mic’d Up, aired on Sky Sports, the audio from referee Chris Kavanagh, assistant referee Stuart Burt, VAR Oliver and his assistant Tim Wood has been released.

Referee audio for Andy Robertson offside decision

The audio transcription of the VAR procedure is as follows:

Burt (assistant referee):“Robertson, Robertson, Robertson. Robertson’s in line of vision, right in front of the keeper. He’s ducked under the ball. He’s very, very close to him.

“I think he’s line of vision. I think he’s been impacted, mate.”

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Kavanagh (referee):“OK so, offside then.”

Burt:“I think offside.”

Kavanagh:“On-field decision is offside.”

Oliver:“So, you’ve got clear offside position. You’ve got movement…have you got a high-behind to show how high he is in terms of line of vision?”

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Wood (AVAR):“I agree with the on-field decision. I think it’s offside. It’s a clear and obvious action which clearly impacts on the goalkeeper.”

Oliver:“Chris, it’s Michael. Confirming the on-field decision of offside against Andy Robertson.

“He is in an offside position, very close to the goalkeeper and makes an obvious movement directly in front of him. Check complete, offside.”

Not a lot of time was taken to explore the ‘line of vision’, was there?

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Howard Webb backs officials over disallowed Van Dijk goal

Webb acknowledged that there is a difference in opinion over whether the goal should have stood or not, which is putting it lightly, but he stood by his officials.

“The officials have to make a judgment – did that clear action impact on Donnarumma, the goalkeeper, and his ability to save the ball? And that’s where the subjectivity comes into play,” Webb said.

“Obviously that’s the conclusion they drew on that. They looked at that position, they looked at that action, so close to the goalkeeper, and they formed that opinion.

“I know that’s not a view held by everybody but I think it’s not unreasonable to understand why they would form that conclusion.

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“And then, of course, once they’ve made that on-field decision, the job of the VAR is to look at that and decide, was the outcome of offside clearly and obviously wrong?”

Listen to the audio of Virgil van Dijk’s goal against Manchester City being disallowed ?

Speaking on Match Officials Mic’d Up, PGMO chief Howard Webb explains why VAR did not intervene to overturn the decision. pic.twitter.com/l3sYMYmjJR

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL)

Listen to the audio of Virgil van Dijk’s goal against Manchester City being disallowed 🔊

Speaking on Match Officials Mic’d Up, PGMO chief Howard Webb explains why VAR did not intervene to overturn the decision.pic.twitter.com/l3sYMYmjJR

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— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL)November 11, 2025

He then added that there was than one issue considered by the officials after challenged by Michael Owen that Donnarumma had perfect vision of the ball throughout its entire journey.

“You do hear the assistant (VAR), in this case, talk about line of vision,” Webb said. “I agree with you, the line of vision, normally, would relate to the view being blocked of the ball,” he said.

“On that one, he does see the ball all the way, but the assistant also talks about other things, ducking below the ball, being close to the goalkeeper.

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“Those in themselves can be enough to penalise a player for offside, interfering with an opponent, even if the keeper can see the ball coming all the way along.

“He’s still in front of the goalkeeper, he still makes that ducking action that could still cause hesitation from the goalkeeper.

“So, (apart from) the line of vision, there’s other aspects that can also say that this is an offside offence, and that’s why the VAR left it alone.”

It was an influential moment in the match and while Liverpool deservedly left the Etihad with no points, the scoreline could have been 1-1, or 2-1, at half-time instead of 2-0.

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