Why Rayan Cherki goal didn’t count for Manchester City after red card for Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai
Rayan Cherki shot the ball from the halfway line.
It rolled across the goal line for the Manchester City star to cap off a win against Liverpool. But wait.
After a VAR review, the goal was ruled not to count.
And really, it didn’t make a lot of sense.
Why didn’t Rayan Cherki’s goal count?
Cherki’s goal didn’t count because of action that happened between when he shot and when the ball rolled in.
While the ball was rolling, Man City’s Erling Haaland was racing alongside Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai.
Szoboszlai pulled on Haaland’s shirt in a way that prevented the striker from getting to the ball and tapping it in himself.
The VAR advised a red card for Szoboszlai, and a free kick at the spot of the shirt pull.
That wiped out the goal, which is odd. It seemed like it should essentially have worked as an advantage.
WHAT ON EARTH HAVE WE JUST SEEN AT ANFIELD?!?!?
Rayan Cherki takes aim from the halfway-line with Alisson way out of goal, and Dominik Szoboszlai pulls Erling Haaland back, only for the Norwegian to do the same thing to the Liverpool man in the six-yard box.
The referee is… pic.twitter.com/nfy5sJ9qi6
— Football Insider (@footyinsider247) February 8, 2026
No one touched the ball, and it rolled into the goal for the team that had been fouled, so why would that team end up with a lesser scenario of a free kick from outside the penalty box instead of a goal that had already been awarded?
Something about the sequencing made the difference here, but it certainly didn’t align with logic.
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