Subjective offside decisions, those where the player does not touch the ball, are always controversial.
They require interpretation about impact from the officials, and that is often not straightforward.
And Chris Kavanagh, who was the referee for Sunday’s game, knows all about them.
As Virgil van Dijk’s header made its way towards goal, Andrew Robertson ducked to allow the ball to go into the net. The Scotland international was stood offside, and the assistant raised his flag for offside.
This decision was not about line of vision, but “an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball”.
The offside law does not require a referee to think Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma would definitely save it, only that his ability to do so has been affected. It is the ducking motion which is absolutely crucial.
If Donnarumma had not been stood close to Robertson, or if the Scotland international was not in the six-yard area, the case for offside would have been weak.
But there must be an argument that Donnarumma had been impacted. For that reason, as the on-field team gave offside, it was not likely to be overturned through a VAR review.
It is a borderline call, but still supportable as an on-field decision.
A good comparison is a disallowed Everton goal against Manchester United in March 2020. Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s shot was deflected towards goal, and an offside Gylfi Sigurdsson, who was sat inside the six-yard box, withdrew his legs to allow the ball through. The referee? Chris Kavanagh.
We can compare it to a goal which was given through VAR last season. John Stones’ late winner for Manchester City at Wolves was chalked off on the field for Bernardo Silva being in the line of vision of goalkeeper Jose Sa. But while he was close to Sa he wasn’t in front of him and, unlike Robertson, he did not duck out of the path of the ball. The referee? Chris Kavanagh.
We have seen a couple of similar situations this season – a Manchester United goal at Nottingham Forest, and one for Leeds against Bournemouth – where an offside player has made a small movement away from the ball. In those cases it was felt that movement and the positions of the players (they were not inside the six-yard box) was not enough to be impactful on the goalkeeper.
