The Premier League have issued a statement to explain why Curtis Jones' goal for Liverpool was ruled out against Manchester City.

Dominik Szoboszlai raced onto a through ball in the second half and played it across for Jones to tap home and despite a curious look across the pitch from the goalscorer, the assistant referee did not raise his flag to indicate offside.

However, the goal was then checked by VAR and after a review it was deemed that the Hungarian had drifted into an offside position when the ball was played into his path.

The league's Match Centre explained: "VAR recommended that Liverpool’s goal was disallowed as Szoboszlai was in an offside position in the build-up."

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Gary Neville, on commentary for Sky Sports, described it as a "tight offside" but ultimately Szoboszlai was deemed to have been ahead of the last City defender.

The announcement prompted a loud roar inside the Etihad Stadium, with home supporters having endured a dismal 57 minutes before Jones' goal was ruled out.

Mohamed Salah gave the visitors a lead after 14 minutes following a well-worked corner.

The set-piece was played to the near post when Szoboszlai flicked the ball back to a waiting Salah, his deflected effort left Ederson with little chance of saving.

That lead was doubled when the pair combined again eight minutes before half-time.

Salah latched onto a looped ball over the top and played it back for Szoboszlai to rifle home from just inside the box.

There were questions over whether the midfielder was onside, having been beyond the defender when the initial pass was played, but he left it for Salah and then finished off the move.

Should Arne Slot's side hold out and claim all three points over their fierce rivals, it would represent an extremely positive week for the Reds.

Arsenal's 1-0 defeat to West Ham on Saturday ensured that they entered Sunday eight points behind the league leaders, set to be extended to 11.

Ahead of a tricky few weeks for Liverpool, with a two-legged Champions League tie with Paris Saint-Germain to come next month, the cushion will be very welcomed.


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