Virgil van Dijk has taken aim at referee Tony Harrington after Liverpool were held to a draw by Fulham on Saturday.
After Andreas Pereira had given the visitors an early lead at Anfield, the Reds suffered another blow when left back Andy Robertson was sent off after just seventeen minutes.
The Scot miscontrolled an interception and then brought down an onrushing Harry Wilson on the edge of the penalty area.
Harrington initially appeared to hesitate when a lengthy VAR check followed, before showing Robertson a red card and reducing the hosts to ten men for the rest of the match.
Liverpool leveled after the restart through Cody Gakpo, but Marco Silva's team found their way forward again thanks to a goal from substitute Rodrigo Muniz.
The hosts continued their hunt for an equalizer in the closing stages and were rewarded for their efforts when Diogo Jota smashed his strike into the top corner to ensure Liverpool did not leave Anfield empty-handed.
After the match, Van Dijk praised his team's resilience, but emphasized that both teams agreed on the referee's performance.
“A great comeback is very positive,” Van Dijk told Sky Sports. 'It's disappointing with ten men, but we showed fight and kept trying to create chances. There could have been more, but we'll take the point and move on.
'Stay calm. It's easier to say than to do. It was always going to be difficult against them. We saw it last year and last week against Arsenal. We had to turn it around and keep fighting. We tried it.
'I had conversations with the Fulham players and we had the feeling that the referee was nervous. I felt like he couldn't communicate well with Robertson.'
Despite his comments, the Dutchman insisted the referee was not responsible for his side failing to secure all three points for the third time this season.
He added: “We can't blame the referee. We're all talking about protecting the referee, but I couldn't talk to him. It shouldn't be a big problem because he's not the reason why we dropped points.
'It is what it is. We'll get the points, recover quickly and be ready for Wednesday's match.”
The result puts Arne Slot's side five points ahead of their nearest rivals Chelsea in the title race.
Comments