When Liverpool defeated Everton with 10 men in the Merseyside derby, 2-0, captain Virgil van Dijk acknowledged that they were fortunate Ibrahima Konate was not sent off.
Ashley Young was sent off for a second bookable offense just before halftime, and Mohamed Salah scored twice late in the second half as a result. However, the hosts were lucky that referee Craig Pawson did not give Konate a second caution for his challenge on replacement Beto.Van Dijk thinks they may have finally had some luck with the officials after a lot of decisions going against them this season when manager Jurgen Klopp decided to promptly substitute the France international to avoid receiving his fifth red card of the season.
“Definitely. Even though Pawson had the option to give it, he chose not to. Fortunately for us. What then can I say? Nothing else,” declared the captain of the Netherlands, who previously experienced personal hardship after receiving a red card in Newcastle in August.Alexis MacAllister’s dismissal against Bournemouth at Anfield was reversed on appeal for Liverpool, but Diogo Jota and Curtis Jones received red cards in the contentious loss at Tottenham, when VAR referees erroneously disallowed Luis Diaz’s perfectly decent opening goal.The game remained scoreless until Keane’s handball gave Salah the opportunity to score his 200th career league goal from the penalty spot. Salah later added his second goal on a quick breakaway from Darwin Nunez in the final seconds of regulation.
It was the match we anticipated. The red card slightly altered the situation, but we still had a strategy in place and needed to be very patient, continued Van DijkThe fact that we have guys who can make a difference is a sign of a great squad..
