John Stones put Manchester City ahead (Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images) (Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images)
Manchester City took a deserved lead at Anfield midway through the first half when John Stones scrambled in the opener.
After a dominant opening period, few could have begrudged the champions taking the lead on Merseyside.
But the nature of the opener angered Liverpool supporters, who weren’t just angry at seeing City go ahead.
Replays showed Nathan Ake shoved Alexis Mac Allister out of the way before Kevin De Bruyne’s corner was swung in.
The Dutchman’s action created the space for Stones to be left unmarked for the goal and, speaking on Sky Sports’ commentary, Gary Neville was quick to suggest VAR would review the goal.
That’s because there were comparisons between Stones’ goal and Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort in the Carabao Cup final.
Van Dijk’s goal was ruled out because Endo was offside (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
Liverpool’s opener at Wembley was chalked off after replays showed Wataru Endo blocked Levi Colwill in the build-up, preventing him from challenging Van Dijk.
But, while there was blocking for both goals, Liverpool’s effort at Wembley was disallowed because Enzo was offside when the cross was played in.
VAR’s call was therefore whether Enzo played a role in the goal, and they decided he did given he blocked Colwill.
While Ake does clearly move Mac Allister out of the way, there was no other issue in the goal and the Dutchman’s actions weren’t deemed aggressive enough to disallow the goal.
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