Jurgen Klopp forced to step in as Virgil van Dijk ‘abuses’ official after Liverpool star is sent off against Newcastle
LIVERPOOL boss Jurgen Klopp had to step in after Virgin van Dijk was sent off against Newcastle and unleashed his fury on referee John Brooks.
The Dutch defender, 32, was given his marching orders when he was adjudged to have stopped a goalscoring opportunity by fouling Alexander Isak.
Van Dijk was immediately shown a red, but was furious with the decision and was reluctant to leave the pitch.
As he finally trudged off, he appeared to continue to shout in the direction of Brooks.
Gary Neville, who was on co-commentating duty for Sky Sports, suggested van Dijk was “abusing’ the official.
The former Manchester United defender said: “He’s now abusing the official. You just need to take your medicine and get off the pitch. We’ve all been there.”
Van Dijk then continued his tirade towards the fourth official, which caught the attention of his manager.
Klopp intervened, before gently pushing his centre back down the tunnel.
The German then appeared to remonstrate with the fourth official himself before returning to his dugout.
The van Dijk incident was one of many poor moments for the Reds in the first half.
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Trent Alexander-Arnold was lucky not to be shown a red card, after committing a foul on Anthony Gordon moments after he was booked for throwing the ball away.
Then, just three minutes before van Dijk was sent off, it was Alexander-Arnold’s error that cost his side Newcastle’s opening goal.
The England star failed to control a pass from Mo Salah, which was latched on to by Gordon who slotted the ball calmly through Alisson’s legs.
However, the second half was a different story.
Liverpool managed to stay in the game and snatched an equaliser in the 81st minute through substitute Darwin Nunez.
Nunez won it in injury time, as the Reds achieved an unlikely win.