Copyright GIVEMESPORT
A 1-0 win over Real Madrid on Tuesday, thanks to Alexis Mac Allister's header, provided Liverpool the chance to forget about their hodgepodge start to the campaign thus far – but Arne Slot's were brought back down to earth following a 3-0 defeat to Pep Guardiola's Manchester City on Sunday. And the Dutch tactician did not hold back when asked about the decision to rule out Virgil van Dijk's header. City marksman Erling Haaland, after missing a spot kick earlier on, drew first blood just before the half-hour mark. Matters for the Merseysiders were worsened ten minutes later as Van Dijk saw his goal controversially ruled out as Andy Robertson was adjudged to have impeded Gianluigi Donnarumma's vision. GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Since the start of 2023-24, no goalkeeper has saved more penalties in Europe's big-five leagues than Giorgi Mamardashvili (6). Jeremy Doku, named Man of the Match by Gary Neville after 62 minutes of play, added the cherry on top of the cake with a terrific, curling finish beyond Liverpool's Giorgi Mamardashvili. The two sides who met at the Etihad Stadium may have shared the last eight Premier League titles between them – but, as the rain poured down on Liverpool's misery, there was an obvious gulf in class and Slot has some serious work to do. Slot Pulls No Punches When Discussing Controversial Van Dijk Decision It was a tricky day at the office for the reigning champions, who have now lost more Premier League matches (five) than they did across the full 38-match season last time out, but things could've been much different if Van Dijk's goal stood. In the 39th minute, the Liverpool skipper rose above the rest to nod past Donnarumma – and it looked as if the scoreline would be finely poised at 1-1 at the half-time interval. That wasn't the case, however, as referee Chris Kavanagh eventually ruled the goal out for offside after the assistant official raised his flag. Andy Robertson, who ducked out of the way so that Van Dijk's rippled the back of the net, was adjudged to be in an offside position – but those of a Liverpool persuasion were insistent the Scottish defender, in no way, shape or form, impeded Donnarumma nor his ability to save the goalbound header. "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," is what the Premier League wrote on X (formerly Twitter) to explain to fans their reasoning. With the taste of defeat still fresh, Slot was asked about whether he felt it was the right decision as he said: "It's difficult for me to give my view about it, I think it's obvious and clear the wrong decision has been made – at least in my opinion." The Sky Sports presenter then quizzed Slot – widely regarded as one of the best managers in world football – further. "Sorry, Arne. Why do you think that?" he said. "Because he [Robertson] 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's offside. So there was clearly communication. As I said, that could have influenced the game in a positive way for us because, in the first half, we were so poor. A set-piece can make a difference and now, we conceded at 2-0 from a set-piece. That was maybe a fair reflection of the first half, by the way – us being 2-0 down."
