Why was Wolves’ late goal against Liverpool at Anfield disallowed?
Wolves continued to be frustrated as what they thought was a fine goal was disallowed late in their 2-2 draw with Liverpool in the FA Cup third round at Anfield on Saturday night.
Toti Gomes put the ball in from close range after 82 minutes and had his effort held up it could have been a winner for Julen Lopetegui’s side as it would have put the visitors ahead 3-2 when time ran out .
Instead it was disallowed as the assistant referee had raised his flag to signal offside earlier in the move when the ball was returned to the corner kicker.
And unusually, no conclusive VAR footage was available to prove whether the decision was right or not, meaning it couldn’t be reversed and the call had to stand on the pitch.
Lopetegui spoke to the referees after the game and later told ITV: “It was just to talk about the two goals. The offside we had. We saw it, the offside doesn’t exist, I’m sorry. It’s impossible. ” Someone told him it’s offside, but we’ve seen the footage, it doesn’t exist. Two touches are our players and he doesn’t want the second touch.
Wolves thought they had a winner, but a VAR check finally confirmed it was offside❌Gotta feel for Toti here 😕@EmiratesFACup | #ITVFootball pic.twitter.com/uhXs3qkXH4January 7, 2023
“The decision is wrong. I make mistakes every day, and sometimes they do too. Today we have the help of the VAR, which is a pity, because I’m sorry, it’s not offside.”
Also on ITV, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said: “I’m not sure about their third goal. We’ve got one picture where it looks offside but I can understand why they’re upset about it. We don’t want the VAR to go around just one corner to have.”
Wolves were also unhappy that Mohamed Salah’s goal was allowed to stand. The Egyptian was clearly offside when the ball was played by newcomer Cody Gakpo, but was not found offside due to an interception in his path by Toti. Salah duly converted and the goal stood.
Mo Salah puts Liverpool ahead! Cody Gakpo’s cross came off Toti’s head and found the Egyptian with plenty of time to finish 👏@EmiratesFACup | #ITVFootball pic.twitter.com/TJg1A1kLSiJanuary 7, 2023
“My opinion is that we need to talk a lot with the referees about situations like this,” said Lopetegui. “One player abused his position, Mohamed Salah was offside before Toti touched the ball, so he got the advantage. Of course Toti only goes for it because of the offside player.”
“The referee heard us and was very polite, but now it’s done. We have to accept it. It’s a shame because we deserved to win against a great team like Liverpool.”
The two teams will now have to meet again in a replay in Molineux.
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