Wolves write to chief referee Howard Webb after a “nonexistent” offside against Liverpool

Wolves have written to chief referee Howard Webb after they were controversially denied victory by an unrecognized goal at Liverpool last weekend.

Toti Gomes thought he gave Wolves a 3-2 lead late in the FA Cup third round only to be flagged for offside. The decision was upheld by VAR despite there being no clear evidence that a Wolves player had been in an illegal position during the move.

But VAR had no camera perspective available to provide evidence to overturn the decision and teams will respond in Molineux on January 17.

Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui was outraged that the referee ruled out a late winner at Liverpool

Defender Toti Gomes thought he had scored before VAR denied the goal

The club have now written to chief referee Howard Webb for answers about the incident

Lopetegui was due to address the media on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup quarter-finals at Nottingham Forest when he was expected to address the matter again.

The Spaniard and captain Ruben Neves then asked referee Andy Madley for clarification. Lopetegui then said: “We saw it, offside doesn’t exist, I’m sorry. It is impossible.

“Someone told him it was offside, but we’ve seen the pictures, it doesn’t exist.

“The decision is wrong. I make mistakes every day, and sometimes they do too. Today we have the help of VAR and it’s a shame because I’m sorry it’s not offside.’

Confusingly, VAR didn’t have a camera angle to confirm the decision on the pitch – which was offside

Officials, however, stood by the on-pitch decision to rule out the late Wolves winner

The goal was ruled out because officials believe Matheus Nunes, who had taken a corner, was offside when the ball was returned to him.

Wolves were already frustrated that Mohamed Salah’s goal had stood up for Liverpool despite the striker being flagged for offside on the cross. Officials judge Toti’s attempted clarification, which fell to Salah, had played the Egyptian on the side.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp added: “I’m not sure about their third goal. We have an image where it may look off the mark, but I can understand why they would be upset about it. We don’t want the VAR to have just one angle.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said he “understands” Wolves’ frustration at the draw.