Michael Oliver stats from refereeing Liverpool emerge after VAR controversy

At the 38-minute mark, Van Dijk’s header in the first half was ruled out due to Andy Robertson being judged as interfering with play.

The Premier League issued a formal statement saying: “The referee’s call of offside and no goal to Liverpool was checked and confirmed by VAR – with Robertson in an offside position and deemed to be making an obvious action directly in front of the goalkeeper.”

Liverpool, however, maintain that the goal should have counted, with senior club officials disputing the notion that Donnarumma’s line of sight was obstructed by Robertson, as reported by The Athletic.

Additionally, Liverpool argue that the standard procedures involved in the VAR review were not properly followed.

Michael Oliver, who handled VAR responsibilities for the match, faced backlash from fans for not instructing referee Chris Kavanagh to re-examine the incident on the pitchside monitor.

In his post-match comments, Arne Slot stated it was “obvious and clear that the wrong decision has been made” in ruling out the goal, adding: “He didn’t interfere at all with what the goalkeeper could do.”

According to the post by haliqcapital, which references Transfermarkt statistics, Oliver has officiated 23 Liverpool fixtures since the 2020–21 season.

Across those games, Liverpool have registered eight wins, eight draws, and seven defeats — equating to a win percentage of 34.8%.

Following the match on Sunday, Virgil van Dijk shared his thoughts on the disallowed goal.

“I think the goal should have stood,” he said. “I think the explanation was hindering the goalkeeper or something like that? But someone showed me a clip that Manchester City scored last year against Wolves and the referee was the same.

“I don’t know, I’ve already said too much because the thing is, the decision has been made,” he added. “We lost 3-0 and we don’t make excuses in that sense. We have to take it on the chin and move on.”