Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has questioned the decision not to award his side a penalty in their 1-0 defeat to Arsenal, insisting Alexander Isak shouldn’t have needed to make a bigger appeal to draw the referee’s attention.
The Reds suffered a disappointing home defeat at Anfield, with Kai Havertz scoring the decisive goal for Mikel Arteta’s side. However, the biggest talking point after the game was a controversial incident involving Isak and Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber.
Virgil van Dijk questions VAR decision against Liverpool
Liverpool believed they should have been awarded a penalty after Timber appeared to pull Isak’s shirt inside the penalty area as the striker attempted to reach a dangerous delivery into the box.
Despite the protests surrounding the incident, referee Andy Madley allowed play to continue, with VAR official Stuart Attwell also deciding against recommending a review.
Speaking after the match, Van Dijk expressed his frustration, believing the incident was a clear infringement that should have resulted in a spot-kick.
The Liverpool captain was particularly unhappy with suggestions that Isak should have made more of the contact to convince the officials.
He pointed out that modern football has numerous camera angles available to review incidents, questioning why players should have to exaggerate contact before receiving decisions in their favour.
Van Dijk also admitted that he shared the frustration of Liverpool supporters, having received a yellow card himself during the closing stages of the contest.
He said: “I think it was also clear penalty. I’ve seen it back. I’ve seen it being given as well other occasions, but today wasn’t it wasn’t meant to be.”
“Doesn’t notice it? There are 50 cameras, if there is not even more. Why do you have to complain when there’s so many cameras?” Van Dijk rightly pointed out. It is spotted, isn’t it? Because everyone’s seen it. But yeah, in the end, obviously, it wasn’t given, and we lose the game, unfortunately.”
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Liverpool must improve despite refereeing controversy
However, the Dutch defender acknowledged that Liverpool were not clinical enough in front of goal.
The Reds registered 17 attempts but failed to record a single shot on target, highlighting their struggles in the final third.
Arsenal defended resolutely to secure a valuable victory, with Havertz’s first-half strike proving decisive.
Although the penalty controversy will generate plenty of discussion, Liverpool must improve their attacking efficiency if they want to compete consistently for major honours this season.
Why is it always Liverpool to get the short end of the stick where refereeing mistakes are concerned there is tens of them over the past decade.
The referees & VAR were Arsenal’s men of the match giving Arsenal everything
Apology from pro ref incoming….
Hollow meaningless words that won’t change anything! Stuart Atwell must be blind to have not seen the shirt pull, and stupid to think that without being pulled back that Isak would not have potentially made more of the chance…
The pulling of the shirt happens in every game and that’s a fact. He would only get the decision if he was brought down to the floor by that action, which he wasn’t.
Also the fact that he didn’t shoot on target is not the same as saying his shot if was made would not have been saved by Raya anyway, seeing as he was in line with his directional approach, covering the goal area anyway. Plus having a shot does not mean it’s a goal seeing as Liverpool had 17 shots and still managed to not a single shot on target, so I said potential header would probably have resulted in another miss had he connected.
Regarding Liverpools remark on VAR, they seem to be tight lipped over the most embarrassing part of the game, where they fail to comment on McAllisters simulation headbut, where VAR or the Ref should be issuing Red Cards for trying to get a player falsely sent off in such a desperate and embarrassing plea to have Liverpool cheat to get anything from that game. Shameful.