Even Florian Wirtz has admitted his shock at being awarded his equaliser against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday, but the goal was allowed to stand because of a little-known reason.
The Liverpool star, who has struggled to hit the ground running at Anfield since his £118m summer move from Bayer Leverkusen, found the back of the net in the 57th minute during his side’s 2-2 draw with the Cottagers.
Declining to celebrate, Wirtz swiftly saw the linesman raise his flag to rule out the goal, with the German having appeared in an offside position after Conor Bradley’s smart pass towards him.
But after a lengthy VAR review, Wirtz was awarded the equaliser – to the shock of many fans and pundits – despite seeming marginally closer to goal than Fulham’s last man Issa Diop.
Wirtz himself confessed after the game that he did not celebrate because he was certain he was offside.
‘I was sure it was offside so I didn’t even celebrate. I was happy that I scored but I’d rather take the three points,’ the German midfielder told Sky Sports.
Florian Wirtz’s goal against Fulham has come under scrutiny despite being awarded by VAR
The German admitted after the game that he didn’t even celebrate, certain he was offside
‘We know there’s no easy game in this league,’ Wirtz added. ‘The intensity we brought on the pitch in the second half was much better. We didn’t press them well in the first half but the second half was much better.’
Meanwhile, ex-Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said during his post-match analysis, echoing the thoughts of several bemused fans reacting on social media: ‘I know sometimes the angles can fool you, but the fact we’ve got the penalty spot to look at, I just can’t believe that’s been given.’
The reason Wirtz’s goal was given by VAR was because of a little-known tolerance level which has been in place in the Premier League since the introduction of semi-automated offsides.
Although manual VAR lines have been scrapped in favour of a semi-automated system, there is still a small margin for error which is taken into consideration by the technology.
While offside is given to the millimetre in other competitions such as the Champions League, the Premier League’s VAR system operates with a tolerance of up to five centimetres – effectively the width of the green line.
Wirtz was therefore awarded the goal because his foot was inside the green line, falling into the technology’s margin for error.
Meanwhile, pundit Jamie Carragher said ‘I just can’t believe that’s been given’ after full time
Harrison Reed scored a thunderbolt deep into stoppage time to rescue a 2-2 draw for Fulham
Fulham, who took the lead through Harry Wilson before finding themselves behind in stoppage time following goals from Wirtz and Cody Gakpo, rescued a point thanks to Harrison Reed’s sensational last-gasp thunderbolt.
Liverpool solidified their spot in the top four after the 2-2 draw, while Fulham moved to 11th with a fifth successive game unbeaten.
