Szoboszlai

Ivan Toney leaves the door open for a move back to the Premier League, Liverpool have no plans to sell Dominik Szoboszlai, but Nick Woltemade keen for a move back to the Bundesliga.

Al-Ahli’s 29-year-old England striker Ivan Toney has left the door open for a move back to the Premier League. (Sky Sports), external

Liverpool have no plans to sell Dominik Szoboszlai despite speculation linking the Hungary midfielder with Real Madrid, with talks progressing over a new contract for the 25-year-old. (Teamtalk), external

Germany striker Nick Woltemade is unhappy at Newcastle and the 24-year-old would welcome a move back to Stuttgart or Bayern Munich. (Bild – in German), external

Manchester United have no intention of lowering their £26m asking price for 28-year-old England forward Marcus Rashford, who is on loan at Barcelona. (Mail), external

Nicolas Jackson and Chelsea will evaluate their options in the summer with Bayern Munich not expected to trigger an obligation to buy the 24-year-old Senegal striker during his season-long loan in Germany. (Mail – subscription required), external

Sunderland will try to sign a new striker this summer to replace 25-year-old French forward Wilson Isidor, who wants to leave the club. (Football Insider), external

Atletico Madrid want Argentina striker Julian Alvarez to sign a new contract but the 26-year-old’s preferred destination is Barcelona. (Sport – in Spanish), external

Tottenham, Crystal Palace and West Ham are among the clubs keen on signing Real Madrid’s 32-year-old Germany defender Antonio Rudiger this summer. (Fichajes – in Spanish), external

Nottingham Forest‘s 23-year-old Brazil defender Murillo has emerged as a key target for Chelsea but the Reds’ asking price is around £70m. (Caught Offside), external

Everton are set to reject any approach for 27-year-old English midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall this summer amid interest from Tottenham. (Football Insider), external

Former England forward Jesse Lingard, 33, is on the verge of joining Brazilian side Remo after leaving FC Seoul in January. (Sun), external

With Alisson marooned upfield for a set-piece as Liverpool searched for a late equaliser, Rayan Cherki kicked the ball towards an empty net.

Haaland gave chase and was clearly going to outpace Dominik Szoboszlai.

The City striker had overtaken Szoboszlai 25 yards from goal and looked certain to win the race – but he was pulled back.

It was a clear foul which referee Craig Pawson identified, but he played an advantage.

As the ball rolled towards the goal with the same two players still jostling to reach it, Liverpool‘s Hungary international was about to slide in and clear it off the line.

Before Szoboszlai could do so, however, Haaland pulled him back, and that stopped the home player from keeping the ball out of the net.

The first pull on Haaland muddies the waters. After all, it seemed Haaland was definitely going to score.

But they are two distinct situations. You have to separate the first foul by Szoboszlai and the subsequent offence from Haaland.

Would Szoboszlai have prevented the goal had he not been fouled? There is a high chance.

On that basis it is impossible for the goal to stand.

Remember that Pawson played advantage. Had Szoboszlai been allowed to successfully keep the ball out, the play would have been brought back and he would have been sent off.

The end result would be the same as the outcome of the VAR intervention: no goal and Szoboszlai sent off for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity.

If you take out the first pull on Haaland, it is hard to see how anyone could have a problem with the goal being disallowed.

This is not the first time, or the last, that the VAR has correctly disallowed a goal and people really struggle to stomach it.

Yes, the goal could be important for Manchester City at the end of the season. But the goal conceded could also turn out to be vital for Liverpool.