English referee explains why Man City's goal was denied by VAR

In the "big battle" with Liverpool in round 13 of the Premier League, Man City opened the scoring in the 27th minute of the first half thanks to striker Erling Haaland.

The Etihad home team seemed to have extinguished the "Red Brigade's" hopes of scoring a point when center-back Ruben Dias scored a close-range shot past goalkeeper Alisson Becker in the 67th minute of the match.

Trọng tài Anh lý giải vì sao bàn thắng của Man City bị VAR từ chối - 1 — Man City's goal was denied after VAR determined Akanji had fouled goalkeeper Alisson Becker in the 5m50 area (Photo: Sky Sport).

However, referee Chris Kavanagh disallowed Dias' goal when he determined that Manuel Akanji had fouled goalkeeper Alisson Becker in the 6m50 area. VAR technology also intervened after this situation and completely agreed with referee Kavanagh's decision.

Even more bitterly for Man City, in the 80th minute, defender Trent Alexander-Arnold scored an equalizer to make it 1-1 for Liverpool and help coach Jurgen Klopp and his team earn a valuable point at Etihad Stadium.

There was much controversy over Man City's disallowed goal, with many fans of The Citizens saying that Akanji's challenge was completely legitimate and he had no significant impact on goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

"For me, Alisson and Liverpool are extremely lucky. If the referee doesn't think it's a foul, VAR won't say it's a foul either," former Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher also commented on Man City's disallowed goal on Sky Sport .

Trọng tài Anh lý giải vì sao bàn thắng của Man City bị VAR từ chối - 2 — Man City were denied a goal to double the lead in the 67th minute and conceded 13 minutes later, forced to share points with Liverpool in round 13 of the Premier League (Photo: Sky Sport).

However, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher believes referee Chris Kavanagh's decision was completely correct.

"People criticize the goalkeeper for being too protective, but you just need to make him lose his balance a little bit and he will lose all stability and be unable to catch the ball. When a goalkeeper loses the ball and loses his balance in the 5m50 area, it is considered a foul," former referee Dermot Gallagher affirmed.

Notably, the 66-year-old former referee also talked about the situation where Man Utd was awarded a penalty in the match against Everton, from which striker Marcus Rashford scored from the 11m mark and helped the "Red Devils" beat the home team 3-0 right at Goodison Park.

That was the situation where striker Anthony Martial fell down under the tackle of Everton defender Ashley Young. Referee John Brooks awarded Everton a direct free kick but the VAR referee asked to review the screen. Mr. John Brooks then changed his decision and awarded Man Utd a penalty.

Trọng tài Anh lý giải vì sao bàn thắng của Man City bị VAR từ chối - 3 — Marcus Rashford successfully took the penalty after the referee confirmed Asley Young's foul on Martial (Photo: Getty).

"I thought it was a penalty as soon as it happened. It's hard to say it wasn't a foul, Ashley Young put his foot in the tackle but it didn't hit the ball but Martial's foot. When you see that, I don't think anything else but a penalty," former referee Dermot Gallagher said.

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