Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk didn’t look for excuses after his side’s heavy 3–0 defeat to Manchester City on Saturday, even though a crucial first-half goal was chalked off following a tight VAR call.
Softfootball reports that the Dutch defender had powered home a header from Mohamed Salah’s corner midway through the first half, but the celebrations didn’t last long.
The goal was ruled out for offside, with Andrew Robertson judged to have interfered in play. Instead of protesting, Van Dijk kept his composure, saying that the team will have to accept their fate and improve it, in an interview uploaded by Liverpool via their official X account.
They posted:
Van Dijk Revealed:
In football there are obviously key decisions. That obviously happens and the officials are deciding this and we have to deal with it on the pitch – both teams. I think there is no point to discuss this from my point of view. The reality is that we lost here 3-0 and that is a big blow, definitely.
Despite the controversial moment, Van Dijk admitted City were simply better on the day. He singled out Jérémy Doku’s electric display on the left wing, one that caused constant trouble for Liverpool’s backline. Doku capped his 100th appearance with a brilliant solo goal, adding to Erling Haaland’s opener and Julián Álvarez’s well-taken strike.
It was another tough afternoon for young full-back Conor Bradley, who struggled to contain Doku’s pace and trickery. Van Dijk acknowledged it was “a difficult game” for his teammate but backed him to bounce back stronger, however Livepools fans are not having it and have began to to turn on their stars, recently Rio Ferdinanrd was forced to publicly come out to defend Mohammed Salah due to undue criticism after his contributions for Liverpool.
The defeat marks Liverpool’s fourth straight away loss in the Premier League, their worst run since 2012, leaving them eight points behind leaders Arsenal.
