Aston Villa vs Liverpool: Roberto Firmino's armpit offside in goal disallowed by VAR

Marginal decision disallowed potential first-half equaliser

Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino scores a disallowed goal (Getty Images)

Roberto Firmino potential equaliser in the first half of Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Aston Villa was ruled out due to his armpit being offside.

Firmino believed he had levelled the score after Trezeguet’s 21st-minute breakthrough at Villa Park only for the assistant referee to flag.

VAR checked the decision, using Hawkeye 3D imagery and markers to determine whether Firmino had strayed beyond Villa’s last defender Tyrone Mings.

The decision was upheld by Mike Atkinson, the game’s VAR official, who judged that Firmino’s upper body was fractionally beyond Mings’ right knee.

At half time, the Premier League moved to explain the reasoning behind the decision.

An official Premier League tweet read: “Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino was flagged offside before putting the ball in the net against Aston Villa and the decision was confirmed by VAR.

“The red line signifies Firmino and was aligned to his armpit, which was marginally ahead of the last Villa defender.”

Though Liverpool were denied an equaliser, Andy Robertson and Sadio Mané eventually struck late to maintain their six-point lead at the top of the table.