Posted by Jamie Carragher, a Liverpool star, has commented on the red card shown to captain Virgil van Dijk during Sunday’s Premier League victory over Newcastle United.
Immediately after Anthony Gordon gave the home team the lead, Van Dijk was sent out for a reckless challenge on Alexander Isak and given a red card.
When Gordon played Isak through with a wonderful through ball, Van Dijk seemed to lunge through the Newcastle striker without touching the ball, earning himself a straight red card from referee John Brookes.
Carragher was incensed by the referee’s call, maintaining that the infraction did not warrant a red card.
The Newcastle player was not denied a clean chance to score, but Van Dijk was “lazy” in not moving over to Isak, in his opinion.
“Virgil van Dijk does a lot wrong here,” Carragher said to Sky Sports.
“He’s being lazy by not getting across right away, and it’s probably not a good idea for him to go in and challenge them. Even yet, I don’t think that warrants a sending off. How do you know that opening presents a good chance to score a goal? At first, he’s sluggish and shouldn’t have made the challenge, but that’s not a red card.