Virgil van Dijk Says Harry Kane 'Clearly' Dived in Controversial Liverpool Draw
Virgil van Dijk did not hide his feelings after Liverpool's 2-2 home draw with Tottenham on Sunday, and claimed neither penalty for the visitors should have been given, while branding Harry Kane a diver.
An exciting game at Anfield, in which Victor Wanyama and Mohamed Salah both netted goal of the month contenders, was punctuated by two controversial late penalty calls against the home side.
Kane saw his first spot kick saved with the score at 1-1, after going down from a challenge from Loris Karius. However, the forward, who is now the second fastest man ever to reach 100 Premier League goals, made no mistake with the second deep into injury time after Van Dijk was ruled to have impeded Erik Lamela.
Both decisions were questionable, with referee Jon Moss discussing both calls at length with linesman Edward Smart before definitively pointing to the spot.
Van Dijk remains convinced that neither penalty should have been given.
“I think first of all it was offside and secondly he just put his body in front of me,” he said after the game of Lamela's penalty claim, as quoted by the Mirror.
“I see him coming in the end and I try and hold my leg in, he just pulled his body in front of the ball and he goes down. The ref said play on and I was very disappointed that the linesman said otherwise.
“It is a decision the ref already made and the ref is closer than the linesman. Unlucky I think. I thought it was a bit harsh. There were loads of things going on."
The Dutch defender was even less forgiving when discussing the first penalty, which Kane missed and even claimed the England striker dived.
"That is also clearly not a penalty. I think it is a dive," he said. "You see him [Kane] diving clearly and no one is talking about that. But I think it is a dive.
“There is a lot of discussion about whether it is offside, yes or no, but I think it was offside as well. I thought it was a given you could just see him making that dive.”
While ex-referee Graham Poll has since backed Jon Moss and his assistant's decisions in the game, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp erred on the side of his £75m defender.
“If I say what I think I would pay the biggest fine in world football,” he said.
