LIVERPOOL controversially had an opener in the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea ruled out.
Virgil van Dijk looked to have put his side ahead with a towering header from a Liverpool free-kick.
But the goal was struck off after the intervention of VAR.
Wataru Endo was judged to be offside in the build-up to Van Dijk heading in.
The player utilised the commonly used tactic of starting in an offside position while the free-kick is being prepared.
But VAR judged his attempts to move back into an onside position to have interfered with Ben Chilwell’s attempts to stop Van Dijk.
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Jurgen Klopp stood aghast on the sidelines – with the decision looking like a harsh one.
Fans on X (formerly known as Twitter) couldn’t believe the decision.
They argued that Chilwell was not marking Endo and therefore his movement had no influence on the goal.
One fan wrote: “That’s a awful decision. Colwill is marking Endo not Van Dijk he is never getting there so the offside is irrelevant.”
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Another added: “That’s an awful decision. Endo didn’t move, he didn’t move into Colwills position. Football is dying.”
A third said: “Utter shambles that that’s offside! Even if Endo doesn’t touch him he’s not getting close to VVD.”
But not everyone agreed, with one writing: “That’s lazy from Endo. Unforgivable really.”
It wasn’t the first time in the game that what appeared to be an opener was ruled out.
Raheem Sterling looked to have put Chelsea ahead in the first half when he tapped a Nicolas Jackson cross in at the far post.
But the goal was ruled out due to Nicolas Jackson’s leg narrowly being ahead of Ibrahima Konate’s when the ball was played.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
