9 months ago
171 Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has been praised by Fulham counterpart Tom Cairney for how he took responsibility following his error last weekend.
The Reds fell to a 3-1 Premier League defeat at Arsenal, with Van Dijk making a rare mistake the build-up to the hosts’ second goal.
With the score level at 1-1, Van Dijk failed to clear a long ball and collided with on-rushing goalkeeper Alisson Becker.
The ball then deflected into the path of Gabriel Martinelli, who tapped the ball into an empty net and put the Gunners on course for victory.
In the aftermath of the game, the Liverpool skipper accepted responsibility for the error, telling Sky Sports that he took “full responsibility” for the goal.
“It’s a big turning point in the game,” he continued. “I should have done better, I should have made a better decision there. It hurts for me, and it hurts for the rest of the team.
“I should just clear it, but I made the split-second wrong decision and unfortunately, these things happen sometimes in football. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that it hurts.”
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk experienced ‘nightmare’ in Reds loss to Arsenal
Cairney, speaking on The Players Channel, acknowledged that the Liverpool defender experienced a “nightmare” moment.
The Fulham midfielder added that taking responsibility “shows just what type of leader he is” and admitted it was “amazing” because “it’s not all his fault”.
The Fulham midfielder said: “It was a nightmare but I feel like Virgil has taken full responsibility, being captain, being the bigger person, taking his keeper out of it which is a good thing.
“It’s amazing to be honest, because it’s not all his fault. No way it’s all his fault. It was indecisive from both of them but him taking responsibility shows just what type of leader he is.
“It was a big turning point in the game as to be honest Liverpool had started the second half well.”
Virgil van Dijk will want to put things right for Liverpool as early as this weekend
Van Dijk has been back to his very best for Liverpool this season, which is why it was sad to see him make a rare mistake at such a key moment in such a crucial game.
However, the Reds star will not need reminding about it, and will no doubt work hard to ensure that he’s back to his best, beginning with Saturday’s meeting with Burnley at Anfield.
The post 'It's amazing': Fulham's Tom Cairney blown away by what Virgil van Dijk has just done at Liverpool appeared first on TBR Football.
