Howard Webb has stated officers didn't act unreasonably in denying Liverpool an equaliser towards Manchester Metropolis final weekend, however stopped wanting calling the controversial choice right.
Virgil van Dijk's header was disallowed by the referee Chris Kavanagh, and never overturned by the video assistant Michael Oliver, after Andy Robertson was adjudged to have had an affect on the Metropolis goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma whereas standing in an offside place.
The decision was broadly criticised after the sport, with Liverpool subsequently writing to Webb's PGMO organisation to problem the choice.
The offside regulation permits for referees to penalise a participant, even when they don't contact the ball, if they're adjudged to be interfering with an opponent by “making an apparent motion which clearly impacts on the power of an opponent to play the ball”.
Talking on Referees Mic'd Up, the common TV evaluate of officers' current choices, Webb was challenged by the presenter Michael Owen, with the previous Liverpool star saying he was “strongly of the opinion” that the aim ought to have stood.
Webb, in unpacking the officers' pondering course of, admitted that “solely Donnarumma actually is aware of if he was impacted by this”, however stated there was sufficient contributory proof to guide Kavanagh to take the motion he did, with Robertson's ducking out of the best way of the ball a key motion.
“It's not unreasonable to know why they might kind that conclusion [of disallowing the goal] when the participant is so near the goalkeeper, the ball's coming proper in direction of him, and [Robertson] has to duck to get out of the best way of the ball,” Webb stated. “They kind the conclusion that it impacts Donnarumma's potential simply to dive in direction of the ball and make that save.”
After Owen instructed that Robertson's choice to duck truly appeared an try to keep away from having an affect on the play, Webb stated: “That motion might nonetheless trigger hesitation from the goalkeeper. Goalkeepers work from reactions that make it doable to tug out some unimaginable saves. And that's the judgment shaped on the sector.” Oliver might have overturned Kavanagh's name solely had he thought the referee had made a “clear and apparent” error.
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After the match the Liverpool supervisor, Arne Slot, had in contrast the Robertson name to the same choice that went in Manchester Metropolis's favour towards Wolves final season when a John Stones aim was awarded regardless of Bernardo Silva being offside and near the keeper within the six‑yard field.
Requested by Owen to evaluate that footage, Webb stated it was a distinct case as Silva had been behind the Wolves goalkeeper José Sá and transferring away from him. “I believe there's a transparent distinction in that the ball goes straight over the goalkeeper Jose Sa's head [before Silva can make an impact],” Webb stated. “It doesn't go over the top in the best way it went over the top of Robertson, who ducked beneath it. Importantly, Silva strikes to the left away from the flight of the ball and the ball goes straight over the keeper.”
