Virgil van Dijk was considered fortunate by many to stay on the pitch during Liverpool’s Merseyside derby away at Everton on Saturday.
The Reds made the short trip across Stanley Park to a Toffees side desperate to end their poor run of form against their greatest rivals on their own patch.
A fiercely contested battle, the game ended up with the honours even after a 0-0 draw that saw both teams have plenty of chances.
But, it was a tackle from Van Dijk that left fans and pundits alike talking after the game. The Dutchman caught Everton new signing Amadou Onana on the shin with his studs as a result of a clumsy challenge mid-way through the second-half.
Onana was left writhing around on the Goodison Park turf in agony, while the Everton faithful were furious with the Liverpool centre-half.
Referee Anthony Taylor deemed the tackle only worthy of a yellow card rather than a red, and former Premier League official Peter Walton has revealed why.
Speaking to BT Sport, Walton claimed: “The threshold on that one if there’s any force used against the foot it’s a yellow card. If the force is used to the shin it could be elevated to a red card.
“But in this instance Virgil van Dijk’s foot actually slipped down the shin and ended up on the foot which is why it’s a yellow card.”
Everton boss Frank Lampard wasn’t convinced and insisted Taylor had made the wrong decision to only hand Van Dijk a yellow card.
“I was surprised the ref wasn’t asked to look at it. For me, it was a red card,” Lampard told reporters after the game. Van Dijk, on the other hand, opted against mentioning the tackle and instead discussed what the result meant for Liverpool’s season so far.
“It’s about winning games, and we didn’t win as much as we would like to,” the Netherlands international admitted to BBC Match of the Day. “We have 32 games left and everyone can have their opinion but we have players coming back from injury and hopefully everyone can stay fit and we try to get some wins.
“The expectation is high, we are one of the biggest clubs in the world so that will always be the case so we have to enjoy it too.”
