VAR under fire as Virgil van Dijk goal chalked off for controversial offside decision vs Chelsea

Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk had a goal ruled out by VAR for a controversial offside decision in the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea.

In the 60th minute of the Carabao Cup final Van Dijk thought he had opened the scoring after he powered home a header from Andy Robertson's whipped free kick.

However, a lengthy VAR stoppage saw the goal ultimately ruled offside after Wataru Endo was deemed to be blocking Levi Colwill in an offside position.

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher, who was on co-commentary for Sky Sports, labelled the decision as "incredibly harsh".

Elsewhere, the Premier League's record scorer Alan Shearer said: "I find that hard to believe that the Chelsea player is getting anywhere near that, he's not getting there from my view."

Moreover, Liverpool forward Diogo Jota, who was among a score of Reds players injured for the game, took to X to express is disbelief at the offside call. Jota simply said, "Uau", which is Portuguese for "Wow".

Meanwhile, former Premier League referee Mike Dean believed referee Chris Kavanagh had made the correct call, after VAR's interjection.

Uau

— Diogo Jota (@DiogoJota18) February 25, 2024

Chelsea and Liverpool were battling for English football's first major piece of silverware on offer this term.

Coming into the game Chelsea had lifted their fifth and last Carabao Cup back in 2015 while they had lost two finals on penalties in the intervening period.

Meanwhile, no team had won the competition more than the Reds, who were hoping for a record-extending tenth triumph on Sunday.

Jurgen Klopp is looking to win a significant trophy hail this season ahead of his imminent departure in the summer.

Liverpool are at the Premier League summit, having beating Luton 4-1 in midweek, while they remain in the FA Cup and Europa League.