Gary Neville and Mike Dean clash live on TV as Liverpool goal disallowed vs Man City

Liverpool saw an equaliser against Manchester City controversially ruled out with Gary Neville and Mike Dean sharing very different verdicts on the incident

Gary Neville and Mike Dean were in a heated disagreement live on Sky Sports after Liverpool's equaliser against Manchester City from Virgil van Dijk was controversially disallowed. The on-field decision was offside against Andy Robertson for interfering in the play with Gianluigi Donnarumma deemed to have been unsighted.

That was not the thought shared by Neville however, with the former Premier League defender of the belief it should have counted.

"I think he is outside the eyeline of the goalkeeper," said Neville. "The goalkeeper is not getting anywhere near that. He had a clear line of sight."

Dean, who is also on Sky's panel, disagreed with that as he stated that under current rules, the correct decision was made.

"I kind of agree with you there guys," he said. "The only thing I would say is that because he's in the six-yard area of the penalty area, with him being in front of the keeper as he heads the ball. It's been given offside on the field, it's an offside decision."

Neville was not to be convinced as he replied: "I know but I think he's outside of the line of the goalkeeper and the goalkeeper gets a clear view. You know the rules better than I do. You see Robertson there, Van Dijk's got a clear view. He can see it. He's got no position that he can stop. I think he's got every right to be fuming, Arne Slot.

"Dean then retorted: "I see where you're coming from but with the way the law is written now, it's so close to the goalkeeper in the goal area, he has to be given offside. And Robertson has ducked out of the way. He's in an offside position. I fully agree with the official's decision that it's offside."

Neville continued his complaints as half-time approached and suggested that the goal potentially should have stood. He said: "Wasn't there a goal a couple of weeks ago given and it was similar to that? I don't know. I just think that Donnarumma's got a clear view of the ball. Robertson's out of the way.

"Look at the end of the day, it's not going to be overturned. I would feel harshly done to if I was Liverpool." The decision was later clarified by the Premier League Match Centre on X.

Their post read: "#MCILIV – 38’ 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."

Slot and the Liverpool players were left furious though and their mood did not improve when Nico Gonzalez doubled City's advantage just before half-time after Erling Haaland's opener.

The Norway international had seen a penalty saved in the opening minutes by Giorgi Mamardashvili after he clipped Jeremy Doku. Chris Kavanagh initially did not award a spot-kick but after a review by VAR, the call was changed.

Another update from the Premier League Match Centre on X read: "#MCILIV – 9’ VAR OVERTURN After review, the referee overturned the original decision of no penalty to Manchester City. Referee announcement: “After review, the goalkeeper commits a foul challenge on the attacker, the final decision is penalty.”"

More verdicts have since been issued on the moment as Micah Richards was in agreement with Neville that the goal should have stood. Roy Keane meanwhile, was more focused on assessing Liverpool's first-half display which he described as "dreadful".

There are still 45 minutes remaining though, with Liverpool more than capable of making a comeback. City will be keen to see out the game and close the gap to Arsenal down to four points.