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Liverpool have complained to the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) about the decision to rule out a goal by Virgil van Dijk during Sunday's 3-0 defeat to Manchester City. The Reds have raised "serious concerns" after seeing Van Dijk's effort chalked off as Andy Robertson was ruled to be offside when he ducked out of the way of Van Dijk's header as it flew past goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Liverpool fume at disallowed goal

With Liverpool trailing 1-0, Van Dijk thought he had equalised when he headed home a corner in the 38th minute of the game but saw referee Chris Kavanagh rule out the goal and the decision backed by video assistant referee, Michael Oliver. The Premier League confirmed the decision, explaining: "The referee's call of offside and no goal to Liverpool was checked and confirmed by VAR – with Robertson in an offside position and deemed to be making an obvious action directly in front of the goalkeeper."

However, Liverpool have now been in touch with the PGMOL and refereing chief Howard Webb to express their "serious concerns" about the decision, as reported by . The Reds "do not accept that the decision to disallow the goal" was "subjective" and feel that Robertson was not affecting Donnarumma's vision. Liverpool also think "the usual checks and balances that are central to the VAR process did not take place" and feel if they had, then a different decision may have been reached. 

AdvertisementGetty Images Sport'Wrong decision' – Slot blasts decision

Liverpool manager Arne Slot made it clear he did not think the right decision had been made by the match officials. He told : "I think it's obvious and clear that the wrong decision has been made, at least in my opinion. Because he [Robertson] didn't interfere at all with what the goalkeeper could do. Immediately after the game someone showed me the goal that the same referee allowed City against Wolves last season [John Stones’ last minute winner]. So, it took the linesman 13 seconds to raise his flag to say it's offside. So, there was clearly communication. That could have influenced the game in a positive way for us because in the first half we were so poor.

"We would have been lucky going 1-0 down at half-time, let alone if it was 1-1 or 2-1 down. So it has been an influential decision, which is not to say that we then would have had a result over here because you cannot predict how the second half would have gone."

Van Dijk reacts to controversial call

Van Dijk was also quizzed on the decision after the game but did not want to waste time talking about it any more. He told : "In football the officials are deciding the key decisions and we have to deal with it on the pitch. There is no point discussing this from my point of view. The reality is that we lost 3-0 and that is a big blow. It doesn't matter what I say [about the goal] because anything I say will be in the media and the whole international break will be about my comment on the decision. I just focus on the fact we lost. You guys can debate if it should have stood."

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Getty Images SportLiverpool in crisis?

Liverpool went on to lose 3-0 at the Etihad as the defending champions suffered their fifth Premier League defeat of the campaign so far. Television pundit Roy Keane insisted the struggling Reds "are in crisis" after their latest defeat and believes they looked a "really weak team" against Pep Guardiola's side despite a summer of heavy investment.

However, the international break does allow Slot and his team some time to reset after falling eight points behind league leaders Arsenal. Liverpool return to action against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League and then continue their Champions League campaign against PSV.

The Los Angeles Angels battled the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night in the second matchup in the three-game set, and fireworks came to the forefront in the top of the sixth inning, with the best player in baseball at the plate.

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani stepped up to bat with the game tied at six and runners on first and second with nobody out. Ohtani has seen this situation plenty in his baseball career, and it's an opportunity he usually cashes in with a runner in scoring position.

Angels reliever Brock Burke reeled back on the 2–2 pitch and fired a 97 mile-per-hour fastball on the outside corner. Ohtani was all over it, lining it right back up the middle. The only issue was that Angels shortstop Zach Neto was playing in double play depth and caught the screamer right behind second base. He quickly stepped on the bag to double up pinch runner Miguel Rojas and fired to first to complete the triple play with Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing scrambling to get bag to the bag.

What a thing of beauty.

He only took six wickets in the two Tests against Sri Lanka, at a 30-plus average, but don’t let that fool you

Andrew Fidel Fernando10-Dec-2024Exhale. Switch off for a minute. Remind yourself that you need to keep your technique tight. Thank whichever god(s) you believe in that he was too fast for you to edge the balls you poked your bat at in the last over. And pray that that was the last over of his spell.This, roughly, is what would have gone through the mind of any Sri Lanka batter who had had to face a new-ball over from Kagiso Rabada over the past two weeks. He didn’t go hunting for wickets. There was no desperation in his bowling. In the channel outside off stump, on a good length or just short of it, and almost always quicker than 140kph – this is where he lived. And the man never left the house.Related

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The best you can really do is survive him. Other bowlers have weaknesses. Rabada has more than 300 Test wickets at an average of less than 22. He will never stop coming at you. Second spell in the day, his speeds are still up. Third spell, those balls are still zipping through in the channel. They are whizzing away sometimes, jagging back at other times, and you play at your peril.He’s been around for so many years, and is already a grandmaster of his craft. The only reason it feels weird to say this is because hasn’t hit 30.If you looked at his return in this series you might surmise he’d been off the boil a little. He picked up only six wickets at an average of 32.33. Four of those wickets were of Dimuth Karunaratne, whom Rabada took out in every innings. If you didn’t watch a single ball of the series, or know anything about Karunaratne, you might wonder if that stat was a flex or a crutch.But take a look at Rabada’s economy rate of 2.77 – the best for any bowler who took at least one wicket all series. In fact, his economy rate of 2.93 in this World Test Championship cycle is the best among its top 17 wicket-takers. Also, Karunaratne is by far the most prolific opening batter Sri Lanka has produced, and has played nearly 100 Tests. He plays spin much better than he plays fast bowling. But the man has made at least five year-end ICC Test XIs. This is not a soft target.Rabada has the best economy rate among the top 17 wicket-takers in this WTC cycle•AFP/Getty ImagesMarco Jansen and Dane Paterson claimed more wickets than Rabada in this series, and both took five-wicket hauls. Good for them. They bowled well, and deserved their big moments. And yet neither was as relentless or as accurate as Rabada. You look through his spells for the series, and you can’t remember a bad one. There was one occasion in this series when he bowled a six-over spell, conceded 33 runs, and took only one wicket. During that period, he’d had a batter dropped at second slip, and at least two of the fours he gave away came off edges. That was as bad as it got.Some bowlers, it is said, have a high ceiling. Rabada also has a very high floor.”I think it’s just one of those series where I guess the balls that he was bowling were unplayable,” South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said, trying to explain Rabada’s lack of wickets. It’s hard to disagree here; there was no shortage of plays-and-misses against him.”I never know what to really say to KG,” Bavuma admitted. Bavuma is as thoughtful a captain as Test cricket has right now, and he’s hinting at a profound reality. How do you instruct a cricketer of such vast and obvious greatness? “All he wants to know is when is he bowling and how many overs I see him bowling. And the rest, I mean, he reads the game.” To some extent, you envy Bavuma. What a joy it must be to have a bowler this uncomplicated to call on. One of Rabada’s other superpowers, by the way, is that he breaks down infrequently for a quick who bowls as fast as he does.If you are tempted to wonder whether Rabada is losing his gift for taking wickets, please consider that in this World Test Championship cycle, the man averages 17.07 and has a strike rate of 34.8. If South Africa make the WTC final next year, as they seem likely to do now, no player has contributed more to that feat than Rabada. And across Test cricket’s vast history, there has never been a more penetrative great bowler. Among players with more than 150 Test wickets, Rabada has the all-time best strike rate, of 39.1.It may be true what Bavuma says. Rabada is so good that sometimes even the best batters struggle to as much as edge his deliveries.

Manchester United are on an improved run of form and could now be set to strike in the market to sign a highly talented midfielder, as Ruben Amorim plots further improvements.

Man Utd deliver stunning win over Brighton & Hove Albion

Consistency has eluded the Red Devils for much of Amorim’s reign at the club. However, they may now be starting to make a positive change on that front after securing a third Premier League victory in quick succession against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Slick signings in the forward areas, such as Bryan Mbeumo, coupled with a renewed feeling of solidity between the sticks courtesy of Senne Lammens, have brightened the mood at Old Trafford, and their firepower proved to be too much for the Seagulls in the end, despite the visitors’ late fightback.

Speaking after their victory on Match of the Day, Amorim urged his side to take the sting out of the game next time after they had to deal with late pressure before eventually sealing three points on home soil.

He said: “We need to be a bit more calm next time. We know the quality of Brighton, they always have hard games and of course they have the capacity to come back but I think in the end – it is part of the game and the most important thing is in the end that we win.”

While Casemiro could be in the final months of his Manchester United career, his contribution, for now, remains pivotal. However, there will come a time when the Brazil international decides to move on to make way for younger talent.

When that happens, the Red Devils will hope to have a contingency plan, and they may be about to put that into practice if recent developments are to evolve.

Man Utd set to target Jobe Bellingham deal

According to The Express, Manchester United are considering a loan move for Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jobe Bellingham amid increasing tension between his father and sporting director Sebastian Kehl.

The 20-year-old has notched two assists in 12 appearances so far this term, though could be set for a surprise switch to the Premier League after a mixed start to life in Germany.

Labelled “a joy to work with” by Tony Mowbray, the England youth international joined Borussia Dortmund for £25 million in the summer and has proven his worth in the engine room, winning 15 duels so far in the German top-flight, per Fotmob.

Atletico Madrid’s Conor Gallagher is also another target for Amorim to add fresh legs in midfield as his side look to pursue a place in the Champions League slots.

Either way, there will be a sense of intrigue among Manchester United supporters as they look to push a deal over the line for Bellingham, someone Mowbray has also showered in praise for his “excellent” all-round abilities.

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