Virgil van Dijk could not believe that Anthony Gordon was initially shown a yellow card before he was sent off thanks to VAR in Liverpool’s win over Newcastle.
It was a fantastic contest at St James’ Park on Monday night as the Reds left with a 3-2 victory thanks to an injury time goal from 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha.
Ryan Gravenberch put Liverpool ahead in the first half and then just before the interval Gordon was sent off for a reckless challenge on Van Dijk.
The England winger was late and jumped in dangerously on the Dutchman, who was pointing to clear stud marks in his calf after the challenge.
Referee Simon Hooper initially showed Gordon a yellow card but after being told to look at a replay by VAR, he upgraded the decision to a red.
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Van Dijk says he made it clear to Gordon that it was clearly a red card and questioned why the official needed a second look at the poor tackle.
‘I said to him, “If it’s not a sending off then I don’t understand football”,’ Van Dijk told Sky Sports.
‘I think it was really strange that the referee had to go to the monitor, in my opinion.
‘Unfortunately these things happen in football. If he meant it or not, it happened, we move on. That’s it.’
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe defended his player, feeling that there was no malice in the challenge.
‘Just reflecting on that, I thought there was no intent,’ Howe told Sky Sports of the tackle. ‘People say it looks bad, I haven’t seen it again, I’ve seen a quick image of it, I thought he was trying to pull out of the tackle.
‘Anthony’s challenge is a red card and that doesn’t look good, but as I said I don’t think there was any intent in it.’
It looked like it was going to be a comfortable night for the Reds when Hugo Ekitike scored immediately after the interval to put Liverpool 2-0 ahead with a man advantage.
The Magpies showed brilliant spirit, though, and got themselves back level thanks to goals from Bruno Guimaraes and substitute William Osula.
There was still time for Ngumoha to become a hero for Liverpool as the teenager scored 10 minutes into injury time, becoming the youngest goal-scorer in Reds history.
