Virgil van Dijk has accepted his error that led to Brighton‘s opener, as he lamented Liverpool’s mistakes in match that ought to have seen the hosts go down to 10 men.
After the events of last week, the trip to Brighton was a chance to get back on the winner’s board, but instead the Reds were left to rue gifted goals to the hosts.
The captain’s pass fired into Alexis Mac Allister left his team-mate with little chance to take possession, and instead the ball went the other way and was quickly in the back of Alisson‘s net.
“Obviously, it is not only him [Mac Allister]. It is me as well,” Van Dijk said of his role in conceding the opening goal to Sky Sports.
“It is a risky ball, but we try to play out from the back. Unfortunately, these things could happen in football and you get punished immediately.” He then added: “The way we bounced back was a great reaction.”
And it was, two Mohamed Salah goals in the space of six first-half minutes turned the scoreboard in Liverpool’s favour, though Brighton were lucky to have kept 11 men on the pitch.
Rules suggest Pascal Gross should have been sent off for pulling Dominik Szoboszlai back and denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, with it not falling under ‘double jeopardy’ rules.
And while Van Dijk did admit it was not weighing heavily on his mind, he was left “curious” over the lack of any booking for Gross.
“On the pitch you are thinking about this, and we obviously have to be careful for asking if he is going to get sent off,” Van Dijk said. “I was quite curious for the reason he didn’t [get sent off] or didn’t even get a booking.
“I didn’t see any replays on the pitch [so not clear why there was no booking].
?? "You get punished"
Virgil van Dijk reacts after their 2-2 draw against Brighton and heaps praise on Mohamed Salah ? pic.twitter.com/Coq3XjWMcl
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 8, 2023
“We win the penalty, we score the penalty and at the end of the day, the referee made a decision to not give a yellow or a even a red. That’s what we have to accept.”
As for Brighton‘s second goal, Van Dijk said Andy Robertson‘s decision to leave the ball was due to “miscommunication.”
“[Robertson] heard a shout and it wasn’t,” he explained.
“It was a miscommunication and we don’t want to make mistakes. Overall, I am proud of my team and we have to get through the international break and then back for a very interesting couple of games.”
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