The Liverpool forward opened the scoring in the first half, only to see his strike ruled out for offside
Arsenal benefited from a lucky escape in the first half of their Premier League clash against Liverpool as the officials wrongly ruled out Sadio Mane’s early goal.
The Senegal forward was played in by Roberto Firmino at the Emirates Stadium but, after slotting home from close range, his celebrations were cut short by the assistant’s flag.
However, TV replays showed that the goal should have counted, as Mane checked his run to remain behind the ball when Firmino squared it across the box.
The 26-year-old had strayed beyond the Arsenal defence in the previous phase of play, but remained inactive as Trent Alexander-Arnold’s pass fell to Firmino.
And according to the laws of the game, the forward remained on-side as the move progressed by ensuring that he stayed behind the ball as the following image shows.
Arsenal will have counted themselves fortunate to go in level at the interval after Liverpool enjoyed the better of the first half, with Virgil van Dijk hitting the post immediately before half time.
Mane’s disallowed strike was the major talking point, with many fans reviving calls for the Premier League to follow other major leagues and introduce VAR.
Premier League needs VAR to clear up the simple facts. Sadio Mane was behind Roberto Firmino when he touched the ball, Liverpool are so unlucky not to be up 1-0 after a wrongfully disallowed goal.
— Mootaz Chehade (@MHChehade) November 3, 2018
The PL needs to bring VAR in. Enough is enough.
— Joseph Cousins (@JCuzzy1) November 3, 2018
Mane’s goal would’ve stood, if the PL had VAR. The linesman got it wrong.
— Ovie (@OvieO) November 3, 2018
Mane has a goal disallowed, and the calls for VAR grow louder and louder.
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) November 3, 2018
