Virgil van Dijk slams refereeing and calls out VAR after mistake costs Liverpool at Bournemouth

The Cherries stunned Liverpool and ended their 13-match unbeaten run in all competitions in torrential rain on the South Coast. The hosts took a commanding lead in the first half with goals from Evanilson and Alex Jimenez, capitalising on defensive errors, with Van Dijk culpable for the first goal, failing to clear the ball in the build-up. Liverpool fought back and levelled the score in the 80th minute with a superb free-kick from Dominik Szoboszlai.

But in the fifth minute of stoppage time, a long throw-in from James Hill caused chaos in the Liverpool penalty area. The ball fell to Adli, who bundled it home to secure the win. Liverpool players protested the goal, with Van Dijk claiming he was clearly blocked in the build-up to the strike. However, replays and pundit analysis suggested Van Dijk was inadvertently blocked by his own teammate, Curtis Jones, rather than a Bournemouth player. The goal stood after a brief VAR check for a potential foul, leaving the Liverpool captain fuming but with no recourse, but he chose to highlight the incident in his post-match interview. 

After the match, Van Dijk told Sky Sports: "What I felt on that pitch is that I was blocked but the referee and VAR didn't give it. I can stand here and say it shouldn't have been given but it was, so it is what it is." 

However, during the post-match analysis, studio pundit Jamie Redknapp confirmed that the Liverpool captain was actually fouled by one of his team-mates. Redknapp said: "He was blocked off, he was fouled but it was by his own player: Curtis Jones. Virgil is in a decent position but as it comes in, and it's an incredible throw, he goes to attack it. As he goes to win it, Jones, he trips over him. Then it all becomes about Adli. He's brilliant. He is the only one alive to the situation." 

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Speaking to reporters after the match, Slot said: "Maybe that sums up our season. Every time something else, it's every time something special, how we concede but we concede. The only ones to blame are ourselves. I think it is safe to say they could've scored the 3-2 a little bit earlier. A few players of ours ran out of energy, and I cannot criticise them for that. Two days ago, we had to play an away game in Europe. We are the only team that played Champions League that has two days in between. After an away game, another away game against one of the most intense teams." 

And on the lengthy delay, which left Liverpool down to 10 men after Joe Gomez picked up a knock, Slot added: "The second goal was when we were down to 10. After the first goal, Joe Gomez had to go off. He wanted to try, he thought he could, but then he couldn't. I tried to scream towards them to put the ball out but we were quite comfortable. When we lost it, it was the opposite. But even if you are down 10, the way we conceded that goal was not specifically because we were down to 10. It is just a winger that is surprising our fullback in a situation we could have done better."

Liverpool's next game is against Qarabag in the Champions League at Anfield. A victory in this final group game will guarantee them an automatic spot in the Champions League Round of 16, by-passing the play-off round. They are already guaranteed at least a play-off spot due to previous results, but a top-eight finish is the goal.