Virgil van Dijk admitted that the entire Liverpool defence must share the blame for Alisson’s red card on Saturday afternoon, after the goalkeeper was sent off for handling outside the box in the 2-1 victory over Brighton.
Alisson made a rare error in judgement, racing out to defend a long ball over the top of a flat-footed Liverpool defence, but the ex-Roma man used his hands to block a shot outside the penalty area, and he received his marching orders from the referee.
The Reds struggled in the final ten minutes, but held on to another vital victory, and Van Dijk insisted that their star shot-stopper was not to blame for the incident which allowed Brighton back into the game, as reported by Metro.
”We should have done better. We put him in that situation but it is what it is. We have to deal with it. It is a disappointment but we go again,” Van Dijk confessed.
The Dutch international then discussed Brighton’s contentious consolation strike, which caught out replacement goalkeeper Adrián, having just entered the field of play.
“The referee gave it and we had to deal with it. It’s a pity but we got the three points.”
Van Dijk was the hero for the Reds on Saturday afternoon, as the 28-year-old powered home two wonderful deliveries from set-piece specialist Trent Alexander-Arnold, which proved to be the decisive strikes in this hard-fought victory.
“Obviously I am one of the main targets for attacking set-pieces. It is not easy because I get marked normally by the best defensive header of the ball.
“They [Brighton] are a good side. They play football and take risks. It’s not easy.
“We should have gone better than we did in the second half but you have to give them credit as well. Unfortunately we got that red card with Alisson then we just had to defend.
“We played a few days ago so energy is always a little bit less than usual if you have a full week to prepare but we have to deal with it and manage the game a little bit better. We could have done that better today but we won and that’s the most important thing.”
Liverpool’s victory means they have now opened up an 11-point gap over reigning champions Manchester City, who were only able to draw against Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon.
The Reds will have to face rivals Everton without Alisson however, as the Brazilian will now be suspended for the Merseyside derby on Wednesday evening.