“He couldn’t properly communicate” – Virgil van Dijk makes big accusation of ‘nervous’ ref in Liverpool draw
Virgil van Dijk has accused referee Tony Harrington of being unable to properly manage Liverpool’s clash with Fulham due to being ‘nervous’.
The Reds had to settle for a 2-2 draw in a ding-dong battle at Anfield, twice coming from behind to secure a point.
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In reality, Liverpool will probably be quite happy with a draw given Andy Robertson’s 17th-minute red card, which came just six minutes after Andreas Pereira had given Fulham the lead.
But Liverpool still managed 16 shots and 2.26 xG and on another day, could easily have picked up a huge victory.
Robertson was sent off for denying Fulham a goalscoring opportunity when he brought down Harry Wilson inside the penalty area.
While that decision was pretty clear-cut, Liverpool still had plenty of reason to be frustrated with Harrington in the opening minutes.
Robertson appeared to pick up an injury in the second minute when Issa Diop caught him with a robust challenge, picking up a yellow card.
Just minutes later, Pereira was also shown a yellow card as he caught the heels of Ryan Gravenberch in what was an awful challenge.
Former referee Mike Dean believes Pereira should have been given his marching orders for the challenge.
“Pereira caught Gravenberch on the top of his Achilles and scraped down. He’s nowhere near the ball. He knew what he was doing. It’s 100% a red card,” Dean told Sky Sports (via Empire of the Kop).
Two minutes later, Pereira opened the scoring for Fulham, while within eight minutes, Robertson had been sent off.
Virgil van Dijk blasts ‘nervous’ referee Tony Harrington
It was a chaotic opening to the match, to say the least, and one that, according to Van Dijk, Harrington failed to get hold of, showing clear signs of nerves.
“A great comeback is very positive. It’s disappointing having 10 men but we showed fight, kept trying to create chances. Could have been more but we take the point and move on,” Van Dijk said after the match (via BBC Sport).
“Stay calm. It’s easier to say than do it. It was always going to be tough against them. We saw it last year and last week against Arsenal. We had to turn it around and keep fighting. We tried.
“I had conversations with the players of Fulham and we felt like the referee was nervous. He couldn’t properly communicate with Robertson I felt. We can’t put the blame on the referee. We all speak about protecting the referee but I couldn’t speak to him. It shouldn’t be a big thing because he isn’t why we dropped points.
“It is what it is. We take the points, recover quickly and be ready for the game on Wednesday.”
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