Former referee offers opinion on Man City's disallowed goal vs Liverpool

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has said that Manchester City's disallowed goal against Liverpool was rightly ruled out for a foul on goalkeeper Alisson.

Man City hosted Liverpool on Saturday lunchtime in the first Premier League game after the international break, the two sides playing out a 1-1 draw at the Etihad.

Erling Haaland had given the hosts the lead going into half-time but Trent Alexander-Arnold's terrific low drive from just inside the penalty area earned Liverpool a point.

For such a big occasion, there was surprisingly little drama at the Etihad with both sets of players looking slightly fatigued following the international break. However, there was one moment of contention in the second half.

With 67 minutes on the clock and Man City a goal up, Pep Guardiola's side did have the ball in the back of the net for a second time. A corner from the left-hand side was spilled by Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, with Ruben Dias on hand to tap home into an empty net.

However, referee Chris Kavanagh blew for a foul from Manuel Akanji, the Man City centre-back deemed to have impeded Liverpool's Brazilian. After a brief VAR check, the on-field decision stood.

Despite some thinking the decision was soft and that Liverpool were fortunate not to go further behind, former referee Gallagher has said that Kavanagh was right to award the Reds a free-kick.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Gallagher was asked whether there was enough in it to award Alisson a foul, to which he responded: "I'm not going to answer that question, Rob, because they say goalkeepers are over-protected, but you only have to knock him slightly off balance and he's lost all stability, he can't catch the ball.

"I think he knocks him enough off balance to give a foul."

While Alisson was perhaps a shade fortunate, Akanji did make contact with the Liverpool goalkeeper and had his hand on his arm as he jumped for the ball.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk was blunt in his response to whether Alisson was fouled after the game, saying: "It’s a foul. There is not much to say about it. It’s pretty clear, you can’t foul the goalkeeper and that’s what happened."

Alisson didn't have his best game for the Reds, his miscued kick leading to Haaland's opener, and the 31-year-old also pulled up in the second-half with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.

Speaking after the match about Alisson's potential injury, Jurgen Klopp said: "I hope it’s not that serious, but I don’t have the answer – no clue in the moment what it is. I spoke to him and he said he only felt [it] a little bit, but we have to wait for the scan."