Liverpool lost 4-0 to Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday, with Reds captain Virgil van Dijk admitting teammate Conor Bradley struggled against Jeremy Doku.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk admitted teammate Conor Bradley had a “difficult” time against man of the match Jeremy Doku during the Reds’ 3-0 defeat to Manchester City. Doc scored an incredible goal and was the best player on the pitch as City cruised to victory.
Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamadashvili won a penalty early in the game after a VAR decision for bringing down the Belgian, but Erling Haaland missed his shot.
However, the Norwegian quickly made amends and scored the opening goal moments later. Van Dijk thought he had leveled the score, but the linesman’s offside flag denied him Andy Robertson as he evaded a goal-bound header from the Dutchman who was in an offside position.
Van Dijk’s misery was compounded in first-half stoppage time when he mistakenly deflected Nico Gonzalle’s shot past Mamadashvili.
read more: Liverpool fail again as Jeremy Doku guides Man City to big win – 5 talking pointsread more: Gary Neville slams referee over controversial Liverpool goal invalidation: ‘I don’t understand’
Doc made the game safe with a spectacular strike in the 63rd minute, prompting Gary Neville to name him Man of the Match with 30 minutes remaining.
“In football, referees make important decisions and we have to deal with them on the pitch,” Van Dijk told Sky Sports about his canceled goal. “It’s pointless to discuss this from my point of view.”In fact, losing 3-0 is a big blow.
“It doesn’t matter what I say[about the goal]because everything I say will be in the media and the whole international break will be about my comments on that decision. I’m just focused on the fact that we lost. You can argue whether it should have been kept or not.”
“It was difficult in the first half, but they were much more comfortable on the ball and it was difficult for our players to put pressure on them. I don’t think there was much danger, but Doc played a good game and one-on-one it was difficult for Conor (Bradley) at times. I don’t think we were in too much trouble, but we could have done better.”
“We had to dig deeper in the second half. We had more momentum in possession, but we didn’t press enough out.
“It’s important to find consistency and continue. Now we’re going to the country, getting fit and preparing for the big battles after that. We’re not going to give up on anything. We’re going into November and we’re ready for a long season and big battles.”
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