Ally McCoist has reassured Liverpool supporters that VAR made the correct decision by disallowing Florian Wirtz’s first-half goal against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Liverpool welcomed the Tricky Trees to Anfield for the 12.30pm kick-off, but it was the visitors who took the lead after Dan Ndoye punished some poor defending in the 24th minute.
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The Swiss forward found the net from inside the penalty area, sending the ball beyond Alisson Becker and quietening the home crowd.
Liverpool appeared to respond just eight minutes later when Wirtz put the ball in the net. However, the effort was ruled out after Jeremy Frimpong was deemed to have been in an offside position during the build-up.
Wirtz appeared to win possession from James McAtee just outside Forest’s box, with the ball eventually falling into Frimpong’s path after a series of deflections.
Goal from Wirtz but he’s offside pic.twitter.com/UChZcunYnH
— Footballgerald (@football_gerald) August 29, 2026
The full-back then played the ball across to Wirtz, who finished beyond a motionless Matz Sels, sparking wild celebrations around Anfield.
Those celebrations did not last long, though, as replays showed Frimpong had been offside when he received the ball. VAR official Michael Oliver subsequently informed referee Sam Barrott of the infringement, frustrating the majority of the home supporters.
McCoist, who was providing commentary for TNT Sports, immediately recognised the offside and explained the situation before the official decision was confirmed. He said: “Now, was he offside? Was Frimpong offside when it comes back in?
“It was a brilliant finish. Here you see it, right across the goalkeeper, through the defender’s legs. There it goes, brilliant.
“Goalkeeper completely wrong-footed, no chance. They’ll just have a little check at it, Darren, because when the ball come back into Frimpong, it was close. Just when it comes in…yep.”
Fellow commentator Darren Fletcher agreed with McCoist’s assessment, saying: “Ally, you’ve called it; he’s offside. Michael Oliver’s seen it, the goal is going to be disallowed.”
McCoist went on to explain why the offside call was not immediately obvious, adding: “It’s one of these ones, Darren. You don’t get it right away because he’s coming out.
“He’s not going into the area, he’s coming out and he’s just slightly offside. I think it’s [Ola] Aina that plays him off.”
Fletcher then described Oliver’s explanation to Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, stating: “He’s just explaining it here to Virgil van Dijk that he’s going to disallow the goal. Michael Oliver had the look, and this is going to disappoint the Kop.”
The Premier League Match Centre later provided an official explanation of the decision on X, writing: “#LIVNFO – 32’ VAR OVERTURN. VAR checked the referee’s call of goal – and determined that Frimpong was in an offside position and recommended that the goal was disallowed.”
