Obscure Premier League Rule Which Saved Liverpool Is Officially Challenged

Fulham’s Marco Silva was furious when Florian Wirtz’s goal was allowed to stand.

Florian Wirtz thought his goal was offside. / Jacques Feeney/Offside/Getty Images

Fulham manager Marco Silva revealed that the Cottagers have contacted the Premier League’s governing body of referees to complain about Florian Wirtz’s goal which was controversially allowed to stand this weekend.

Wirtz was flagged for offside after sweeping Liverpool level at Craven Cottage on Sunday afternoon. The German playmaker was so confident he had strayed beyond the last defender that there was no joy to have cut short. “I was sure it was offside so I didn’t even celebrate,” he shrugged.

Silva was similarly convinced. However, a lengthy VAR check deemed that Wirtz was in fact onside, prompting Silva’s shock to soon evolve into fury. It took a last-minute screamer from Harrison Reed to secure a 2–2 draw for the hosts and avoid what his manager deemed to be a “completely unfair” result.

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Ahead of Fulham’s west London derby with Chelsea on Wednesday evening, Silva revealed that the club have opened up an official dialogue with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the organisation in charge of the top-flight’s referees.

The immediate explanation behind the controversial decision to award Wirtz’s goal has not satisfied the Fulham boss.

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Why Florian Wirtz’s ‘Clearly Offside’ Goal Was Allowed to Stand

Liverpool’s equaliser was allowed by VAR. / Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

Silva wrote Wirtz’s goal off as “clearly offside,” yet it didn’t meet the Premier League’s little-known threshold.

From the 2021–22 season onwards, the PGMOL loosened the strict nature of offside decisions. “The toenails and noses that might have been offside last year won’t be next season,” former referees’ chief Mike Riley explained at the time.

When determining offside decisions, the same pixel-wide lines are drawn before “the thicker broadcast lines” are applied. When these overlap, the attacker is given the benefit of the doubt. This effectively ensures that players can stray five centimetres (marginally less than two inches) beyond the last defender but still be dubbed onside by virtue of the margin of error.

Even with the introduction of semi-automated offside technology, that tolerance still exists.

“I don’t have a way to measure, but in my opinion it is much more than five centimetres,” Silva fumed. “When you see the moment of the pass in all the images, the player was clear offside.”

Silva’s confusion is understandable. BBC Sport report that there are three frames of the match footage which show Conor Bradley releasing the pass for Wirtz to score. The frame which VAR chose to analyse was one ahead of the imagery produced by the TV broadcaster, ensuring that Liverpool’s No. 7 looked further behind Fulham’s backline—or “more offside”—for the public than the referees.

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Marco Silva Furious With PGMOL

Marco Silva was quick to point out the refereeing controversies. / Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

Silva’s fury wasn’t simply limited to the referee’s decision against Liverpool. He was similarly annoyed about a lack of a response. “The club is trying to get in contact [with PGMOL]—until now we didn’t have any feedback,” the Portuguese boss seethed.

“We are still waiting for some feedback from the Premier League, from PGMOL, because it is very important for us. We didn’t have the one to make us understand why and not have the same opinion.

“Not just me... me, my staff, our football club, all the other players, fans. I think if you go to ask all Premier League [teams, each club] is going to have the same opinion. All the people that love football will have the same opinion as myself.”

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