“It was a penalty” – Liverpool star agrees with referee’s decision to award Man City spot-kick

Virgil van Dijk admitted, after the Manchester City game, that the penalty call was right from the referee. The Dutch defender fouled Leroy Sane with five minutes to go and the spot-kick was awarded to the away side.

Fortunately, Riyad Mahrez blasted the ball over the post, and the match ended 0-0. The central defender was speaking to Sky Sports (h/t Liverpool FC) and was relieved we didn’t concede:

“It was a penalty and I said it to the referee afterwards as well.

“It shouldn’t have happened but obviously I’m happy that we didn’t concede. I was very happy that it didn’t go in.”

The defender tried to argue the call when it was made but it didn’t matter as the Algerian missed the target. City limited our attacking threat too, and the Liverpool star claimed that their defence did a good job.

Van Dijk was pleased that we kept another clean sheet and added our response from after the Napoli game was good.

“We wanted to bounce back from our defeat against Napoli and I think we did. They’re a good team and we knew it was going to be hard but I’m happy with not losing.”

Both sides failed to create clear-cut chances with Alisson being the busier keeper. The draw also meant that three teams were tied, at the top of the Premier League table.

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Chelsea, City and Liverpool are on 20 points, heading into the international break. The Reds face Huddersfield, once we return to Premier League action.