Virgil van Dijk disagrees with Arne Slot after Liverpool lose to Man City | Football | Sport

Virgil van Dijk insists Liverpool FC only have themselves to blame for the loss to Manchester City, despite Arne Slot directing his frustration at the referee. The Reds suffered a costly 2-1 defeat at Anfield in a match that concluded in dramatic circumstances. Dominik Szoboszlai had put the home side ahead with a stunning free-kick, only to receive a red card late on as City was denied a third goal, having gone in front through Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland.

The decision to rule out the goal and dismiss Szoboszlai has sparked debate, with even Haaland and Pep Guardiola maintaining VAR shouldn’t have got involved. However, that wasn’t the only incident to generate discussion. Liverpool were left furious when Marc Guehi received only a yellow card despite hauling back Mohamed Salah as the Egyptian looked to be in on goal. In a match packed with contentious moments, that was the incident which infuriated Slot the most. “We can talk about the decisions,” Slot said on Sky Sports. “I would like to talk about the one time Mo was through on goal and Guehi holds his shirt.”

“Everyone who has been in this stadium in the last eight years knows if Mo is in that position, it is a goal. So it is a denial of a goalscoring opportunity.”

Van Dijk though adopted a contrasting perspective on the match to his manager, with the Liverpool captain declining to attribute any responsibility to referee Craig Pawson or the other officials. “We have no influence on that,” Van Dijk told Sky Sports. “[Matheus] Nunes’ penalty, he could have given it, he went so fast. We only have ourselves to blame.

“We have to quickly turn our attention to Sunderland because that will be a tough one, unbeaten at home this season. A good challenge ahead.”

Liverpool indeed travels to Sunderland on Wednesday, but the Reds will be hoping for some assistance elsewhere after falling further behind in the race for the Premier League’s top four.

When asked if he believes his team made progress despite the result against City, Van Dijk responded: “I’m not sure. It’s still a process.

“The second half maybe felt like a step up but first half we were not in control and should have done better. Unfortunately, the penalty moment was the deciding moment and that is the reality.”