Liverpool handed Van Dijk goal verdict as Rooney takes aim after Man City defeat

The match was marred by controversy when Van Dijk’s potential equaliser was ruled out for offside, with Andy Robertson deemed to be interfering with play despite not touching the ball.

But Rooney believes the officials got it wrong, saying: “The Van Dijk goal should have stood.

“I don’t think Andy Robertson delayed Donnarumma diving. The City keeper can see the ball the whole way, so I think that was the wrong decision.”

Responding to the call post-match, Liverpool manager Arne Slot said: “It is difficult to give my view. It is obvious and clear that the wrong decision has been made, at least in my opinion.

“He didn’t interfere at all with what the goalkeeper could do. Immediately after the game someone showed me the goal that the same referee allowed – City against Wolves last season.

“So it took the linesman 13 seconds to raise his flag to say it was offside. So there was clearly communication, but as I said, that could have influenced the game in a positive way for us.”

Reflecting on the performance, Slot added: “Very difficult first half for us. You almost expect it when you go here – they were pressing us really high. We struggled a lot in the first half. You were hoping to get to the end of the first half 1-0.

“Then, of course, there was five or 10 minutes that were influential to the game. Instead of going 1-1 or 2-1 it was 2-0 at half-time. First half, it was obvious that they were better than us.”

Liverpool have now lost four consecutive away matches in the league for the first time in over a decade, and have let in 17 goals across 11 games. Roy Keane weighed in after the match, declaring the team is in trouble.

He said: “At this moment in time you can’t be considering Liverpool for the Premier League title.

“I think it is crisis time for Liverpool. Defensively they are all over the place. The full-backs are a huge problem, the centre-half (Ibrahima Konate) looks a nervous wreck.”