Liverpool vs Man City referee was responsible for one of the biggest controversies of the Jurgen Klopp era

Liverpool should feel the support of the whole of England when they take to the pitch against serial rule-breakers Manchester City on Sunday.

The poetry of City’s first match since being found guilty of more than 100 financial breaches being at Anfield has not been lost on anybody, and the Reds will be roared on by a raucous home crowd as well as many thousands watching around the world.

At the end of the day, though, this match will be won and lost by the players on the pitch. As ever, the referee will also take centre-stage, and on Sunday the man in black will be Chris Kavanagh, who some Liverpool fans could justifiably hold responsible for their failure to win the Premier League in 2021/22.

Inevitably when the title races between Liverpool and Man City were so tight, there have been a few refereeing decisions over the years which have had a defining impact on where the Premier League trophy ended up.

Few have mattered more than the failure to punish Rodri for what was a blatant handball in the penalty box during City’s 1-0 win over Everton in February 2022. The Spaniard clearly moved his arm towards – and connected with – the ball in the closing minutes of the game, but referee Paul Tierney chose not to award the penalty.

While it looked like a mistake from Tierney, it was Kavanagh, operating the VAR at Goodison Park that evening, who was ultimately responsible.

As former referee Dermot Gallagher said on Sky Sports Ref Watch at the time, Tierney’s view was obstructed, meaning he needed some help from Kavanagh and the video assistants.

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“It is a penalty, no doubt,” Gallagher said. “I think the VAR inspected it for too long. Paul Tierney is looking through players, he can’t see the incident and Rodri is covering him. I think this should have been a VAR decision.”

Then Everton boss Frank Lampard was furious, slamming the officials after the game. “We’ve lost a point because of a professional who cannot do his job right. It is so incompetent to get it wrong,” he said.

The decision was so bad that the Toffees were subsequently given an apology by former PGMOL boss Mike Riley, who rang both Lampard and then Everton owner Bill Kenwright to say sorry.

While the decision obviously impacted on the Blues, who were 17th in the Premier League table and battling relegation at the time, it also had repercussions for Liverpool, who would go on to lose the title to Man City by just one point.

Pep Guardiola’s team went on to win eight of their remaining 11 matches – drawing with Liverpool along the way – while the Reds did all they could, winning 10 out of 12 until the end of the season. With both teams in top form, Rodri’s non-handball had a defining impact.

Kavanagh has refereed Liverpool against City on two occasions since, with the Reds yet to lose. He oversaw a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium in November 2023, as well as Liverpool’s 2-0 win over City at Anfield in December 2024. But it is for the Rodri incident, one of the most controversial moments of Guardiola and Klopp’s respective reigns, which he should be remembered for.