Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has hit out at the officiating in his side’s Carabao Cup semi-final defeat to Tottenham, questioning why Lucas Bergvall wasn’t shown a second yellow card before scoring the winner.
Referee Stuart Attwell had already booked Bergvall for a foul on Luis Diaz, before playing advantage following another late challenge on Kostas Tsimikas.
Softfootball reports that moments later, the 18-year-old slotted past Alisson to hand Spurs a crucial first-leg advantage. He said:
It was quite obvious there was gonna be a second yellow. It was pretty clear, and then a minute later he scores the winner. He made a mistake in my opinion and I told him that.
Van Dijk also acknowledged Tottenham’s attacking quality played a part in the result. He added:
We played against an intense team with good attacking players who keep running and make it difficult. We created opportunities, but they were able to defend much better than before.
Manager Arne Slot echoed the sentiment, insisting the officiating decision “had a lot of impact on the result tonight.”
