Van Dijk Angry With Referee's Decision When Liverpool Lost Tottenham

JAKARTA - Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk questioned the referee's decision not to give a second yellow card to Tottenham Hotspur's Lucas Bergvall, before the 18-year-old scored the winning goal in the Carabao Cup first leg semi-final, Thursday, January 9, 2025.

Stuart Attwell, the referee in charge of the match, has previously given Bergvall a yellow card for fouling Luis Diaz.

He then took advantage of the opportunity after making a late tackle against Kostas Tsimikas.

When Liverpool's attack subsided, Attwell did not stop the game from giving Bergvall a yellow card.

A few moments later the Swedish player managed to get past Alisson after a neat collaboration from Dominic Solanke, while Tsimikas was off the pitch receiving treatment.

"It's clear there will be a second yellow card. It was pretty clear and a minute later he scored the winning goal. Listen, that's how it is."

"The referee made a mistake in my opinion and I told him. He didn't think he was wrong. It was pretty clear and everyone on the sidelines knew about it."

"There was a line judge there, there was a fourth official, there was a VAR. He didn't get a second yellow card."

"I'm not saying this is the reason we lost, but it was a big moment in the game," Van Dijk told Sky Sports after the game.

The Dutch mainstay added that Attwell's decision was not the only reason Liverpool were going to Anfield to play the second leg with a goal deficit.

"We played against an intense team with good strikers, kept running and making it difficult."

"We created chances. In my opinion, it's not a really clear chance, but enough to get us to score goals."

"Sometimes we should be able to play better. It's part of football. Sometimes we play well against them."

"However, they were able to survive much better than when we were here a few weeks ago," said the Liverpool captain again.

Furthermore, Liverpool will host Tottenham in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semifinal at Anfield on February 7, 2025.