Virgil van Dijk struggled to hide his disappointment after Everton pegged back Liverpool to a dramatic 2-2 draw in the Merseyside derby.
Mohamed Salah’s 22nd Premier League goal of the season looked like it would be enough to send the Reds nine points clear of Arsenal at the top of the table after Beto and Alexis Mac Allister traded first-half goals.
But James Tarkwoski sparked bedlam with an emphatic volley from Tim Iroegbunam’s flick-on. A lengthy VAR check for both an offside in the build-up and a potential foul by Beto on Ibrahima Konate made for an interminable wait before celebrations exploded again.
At full-time, Liverpool substitute Curtis Jones was sent off for grappling with Abdoulaye Doucoure after the Everton midfielder celebrated in front of the travelling Liverpool fans. Head coach Arne Slot and assistant Sipke Hulshoff were also shown red cards.
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What did Virgil van Dijk say about referee Michael Oliver?
Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, Van Dijk said he felt referee Michael Oliver contributed to the tempestuous atmosphere through his officiating of a game where he “lost control”.
“It was always going to be intense, a lot of battles,” Van Dijk said. “Obviously it’s very important not to lose it in the last second of the game, or even over extra time.
“It is what it is. It’s not easy to accept it, especially the manner of it but we take it and we go on.
“It was over extra time. The referee had a big part in the game today in terms of giving a foul for certain challenges and then similar ones not.
“The ref didn’t have the game under control in my opinion. I said it to him. Both teams had to deal with it.”
Was there too much injury time in the Merseyside derby?
Twice in his interview, Van Dijk referred to the match as being “over extra time”, a reference to Tarkowski scoring in the seventh minute of added time after only five were signalled by the fourth official.
However, this is fairly easily explained due to the head injuries suffered by Jarrad Branthwaite and Carlos Alcaraz during the additional period. The Everton duo required treatment on the field after colliding with one another.
That incident would account for the added time, along with the permanent stipulation that the minute signalled for injury time is always a minimum amount.
