Jermaine Jenas has claimed that Virgil van Dijk should have been sent off in Liverpool’s 5-2 derby win over Everton on Wednesday evening.
The Dutchman appeared to make a clumsy last ditch tackle on Dominic Calvert-Lewin with the score at 2-1 to the Reds, but the incident was waved away by officials – a decision upheld by a VAR review.
But speaking on Match of the Day after the game (BBC One, 22.45, December 4th), Jenas argued that the Kop defender should have seen red.
He said: “This is a blatant penalty.
“He’s about to shoot, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, he gets taken out by Van Dijk.
“That’s a sending off. I don’t know how VAR hasn’t seen that.”
OPINION
Honestly, this could have gone either way. Obviously, VAR has upheld the decision to let this one slide, but on another day, with another referee, Van Dijk could have been in all sorts of trouble. There can be little debate that he catches Calvert-Lewin just as he goes to shoot, and it’s probably not out of the question to suggest that it prevented a clear goalscoring opportunity for the Everton man. Subsequently, if it had been given as a foul, many referees would have seen fit to dismiss Van Dijk too. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case, because without Van Dijk on the field, and with teh scores so tight, who knows what might happened. It’s unusual to see the Dutchman caught out so readily, and while he has still been superb so far this term, there are some cracks appearing in his typically imperious armour. Hopefully, it doesn’t become the norm.
