Roy Keane has suggested that Virgil van Dijk’s winning goal against West Ham should have been chalked off by VAR for a foul. Van Dijk made up for his blunder at the other end for the Hammers’ equaliser by heading in Alexis Mac Allister’s corner three minutes later – but the goal owed much to a potential foul.
Luis Diaz put Liverpool in front in the first half from Mohamed Salah’s pass but the home side appeared to have thrown away two points when Van Dijk and Andy Robertson got in each others’ way and conspired to put Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s cross into their own net. However, Van Dijk went up the other end to get his head on a corner and restore Liverpool’s lead.
Replays showed that Van Dijk pushed his marker Niclas Fullkrug before jumping unchallenged to plant his header past Alphonse Areola. The incident didn’t prompt any intervention from VAR as Liverpool went 13 points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League, but former Manchester United midfielder Keane raised it in his analysis.
“Nice little shove there isn’t there! I thought VAR might want to look at that, but obviously not,” he said on Sky Sports. “But Liverpool do what champions do – they find a way to win.”
Presenter Kelly Cates, whose father Kenny Dalglish is a former Liverpool player and manager, shot back: “Roy, as you know VAR is constantly looking and viewing every situation, particularly those involving goal decisions.” Keane then responded: “Of course they are.”
Liverpool boss Arne Slot was delighted with his side’s response after the disappointment of the own goal. “Getting the goal with Virgil shows you how much mentality these boys have,” he told Sky Sports.
“It’s not only us. I saw the result when I came in, Chelsea vs Ipswich, 2-2. There’s no-one who wins a game of football that easily and because this league is so strong now, you have to put so much effort to bring your wins over the line.
“It’s so much easier if you win a game 3-0 or 4-0 or 5-0, but to win it the way we do every time – against Everton, last week against Fulham – and now again, that is a big compliment for this team.
“The whole season has been hard for us, every win has been really difficult except two more wins. The last three games have shown us how difficult it is to win a game of football, let alone one at the end of the season. We go again next week against Leicester.”
He added: “The boys had to fight very hard and I tried, like the fans, everything I could do to fire them up from the side. We survived, because they had a header on the bar in extra-time.
“That is what we’ve done the whole season. After the disappointment of being knocked out by PSG, we show up again, show up every three days, with this mentality. We don’t win games the easy way. The easy way is taking control of the ball, pass it around five times and we have a goal and the next goal and the next goal.
“If we achieve something this year, it’s mainly to do with the mentality the players have shown. That’s what you saw today as well.”
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