In the 38th minute, when Man City was leading Liverpool 1-0, center back Van Dijk headed the ball into the net of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. However, after consulting VAR, the referee dismissed the goal because he thought that Robertson had obstructed Donnarumma's vision.
After the match, Arne Slot said that this was a wrong decision by the referee but also emphasized that was not the reason for Liverpool to lose the match.
Its difficult to give my opinion. It is clear that the wrong decision was made, at least in my opinion. Robertson has absolutely not interfered with what the goalkeeper can do.
But I would not say that we lost the game because of that, because after the 1-1 draw, if Man City kept playing like that, we would have a hard time in the second half, said Arne Slot after the match.
Liverpool have now lost five of their 11 matches in the competition this season and are 8 points behind leaders Arsenal at the FIFA Days in November 2025.
Arne Slot shared: "We have suffered too many failures. The last thing I want to say right now is the championship race. We should focus on the immediate results instead of thinking about the championship race.
Meanwhile, coach Pep Guardiola stressed that Man City have returned to their best form after the win over Liverpool. We had great wins against Bournemouth, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool. This is a memorable week for Man City.
I feel Man City are back to their best form, can play in many different ways. That is good for Man City but not good for the opponents. They don't know what we will do," Guardiola said after the match.
For Guardiola, the win over Liverpool was a meaningful one at the time, his 1,000th match as manager. The Spanish strategist especially praised his students, as they played much better than their opponents.
All four defenders, Bernardo Silva and Nico, are excellent, he said. Thank you to the players and coaching staff for their excellent performance in this match, helping us win against the strongest opponent we have faced in the past 10 years.
With this victory, Man City shortened the score from the leader Arsenal to 4 points.
