Rooney sympathises with Liverpool after disallowed goal in Man City loss

Wayne Rooney has said that Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed goal in Liverpool’s 3-0 loss to Manchester City on Sunday should have counted.

The incident occurred in the 38th minute when Van Dijk appeared to score from a Mohamed Salah corner, but VAR ruled out the goal after determining that Andrew Robertson was in an offside position and obstructing City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Speaking on BBC’s Match of the Day, the former Manchester United striker disagreed with the decision.

“Yeah, I don’t think it has affected it at all when you look at it. “Robertson is in an offside position, but Van Dijk makes good movement, it’s a really good header, and Donnarumma can see the ball the whole way. Robertson is to the side of him. Donnarumma is fully outstretched, there’s no impact from Robertson for me.”

VAR officials concluded that Robertson had made an obvious action directly in front of Donnarumma, affecting his ability to react. Rooney, however, maintained that the goalkeeper’s view was not blocked and that he was already diving as Van Dijk connected with the ball.

“Donnarumma puts all his weight on his right foot, which makes it hard to get back across the goal,” Rooney added.

“But he dives as soon as Van Dijk heads the ball. It’s a really good header – for me, the goal should’ve stood.”

Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy, also speaking on the programme, said the decision was unlikely to have changed the final result, arguing that Liverpool’s overall performance was well below the level required.

“Unfortunately, the level of Liverpool’s performance probably meant it wouldn’t have affected the outcome,” Murphy said.

“Not from a points tally but from a performance level, yes – they don’t look like they’re playing well enough to make up the gap. Away from home they’re too easy to play against, too open, and making too many mistakes.”