The Dutch defender thought he had brought the visitors level in the second half, only for his effort to be ruled out after Andy Robertson was deemed to be standing in an offside position and obstructing the goalkeeper’s line of sight.

The incident has caused major frustration within the Liverpool camp, with the club reportedly telling referees’ chief Howard Webb that they do not accept the explanation given by officials insisting that the ruling was based on a “subjective” interpretation rather than clear evidence.

The Premier League’s Match Centre released a statement soon after the game, confirming that VAR had upheld the on-field decision:

“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.”

Slot: “A Wrong Decision”

Manager Arne Slot was visibly frustrated post-match and questioned the consistency of officiating across the Premier League.

“It’s difficult to give my view, but in my opinion the wrong decision has been made,” Slot told reporters. “He [Robertson] didn’t interfere at all with the goalkeeper’s ability to react. Someone showed me a goal that the same referee allowed City against Wolves last season and it looked almost identical.”

Slot also expressed concern about the communication between the referee and assistants, revealing that the flag for offside was raised 13 seconds after the goal was scored, which he described as “confusing.”

Neville: “Liverpool Have Every Right to Be Fuming”

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville echoed Slot’s criticism while on Sky Sports commentary.

“Robertson’s outside the goalkeeper’s line and Donnarumma can see the ball clearly,” Neville said. “I think Liverpool have every right to be fuming. There was a very similar incident recently that was given the inconsistency is the problem.”

More VAR Controversy

The disallowed goal was not the only talking point of the afternoon. City was awarded a contentious penalty earlier in the game after Jeremy Doku went down under minimal contact from Giorgi Mamardashvili.

Although Erling Haaland missed the resulting spot kick, he later opened the scoring with a header before Nico González and Doku added to City’s tally. The defeat leaves Liverpool further adrift in the Premier League title race and amplifies ongoing debate about the use of VAR and the clarity of offside interpretations.

Liverpool are expected to follow up their complaint formally this week, requesting clarification from PGMOL on how “interfering with play” is applied under current guidance.