Watch: Virgil van Dijk scuffs penalty spot in hilarious sh*thousery
Liverpool earnt back-to-back Premier League victories with a hard-thought 1-0 success over West Ham on Wednesday night – aided by Virgil van Dijk’s scuffing of the penalty spot before Jarrod Bowen’s miss.
Despite coming in for some criticism for his performances this season, Van Dijk was excellent during Sunday’s victory over champions Manchester City.
“That’s what defenders have to do [defend for your lives],’ the Netherlands international told Sky Sports after Liverpool won thanks in part to a brilliant display from him and Joe Gomez at the back.
“That’s what you have to do in every game, you drop off a slight percentage, they will punish you.”
And Van Dijk indulged in a spot of dark arts during Wednesday’s win over the Hammers.
With the Reds leading, West Ham were awarded a penalty on the stroke of half-time after Joe Gomez brought down Bowen inside the area, leading VAR to intervene.
Before the ball was put on the spot, Van Dijk scuffed the penalty spot up in front of the Kop to try and interfere with Bowen’s spot-kick as Alisson dived to his right to keep Liverpool in the lead.
Referee Stuart Atwell spotted Van Dijk standing on the penalty spot and proceeded to check any damage that may have been done, but nothing was found and Bowen missed the following spot-kick.
Steve McManaman said on Amazon Prime Video at half-time: “A scuff or a step? I think he steps on it. He should’ve scored his penalty, he does stand on the penalty spot but he should’ve scored.”
Arsenal defender Gabriel was booked for doing the same during a game last season, while former Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger was also cautioned for a similar incident against Liverpool.
But Jurgen Klopp’s side held on and moved to within four points of a Champions League spot.
The anti-Liverpool agenda is going to have a field day cause of what Virgil van Dijk does here👇 pic.twitter.com/XrWDYy3atF
— Zubin Daver (@zubinofficial) October 19, 2022
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