Ian Wright terms the glare Virgil Van Dijk gave to Kepa Arrizabalga after scoring in the Carabao Cup penalty shootout was ‘horrible’
Speaking on his podcast ‘Wrighty’s House’, as quoted by Liverpool Echo, Ian Wright joked that Chelsea shot-stopper Kepa Arrizabalga was on the receiving end of a ‘horrible’ stare from Liverpool centre-back Virgil Van Dijk.
Chelsea lost 10-11 to Liverpool on penalties in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday. Kepa missed his penalty after his counterpart Caoimhin Kelleher slotted his spot-kick home to hand Liverpool their first EFL Cup since 2012.
During the shootout, when Van Dijk placed the ball down to take Liverpool’s third penalty, the Spanish shot-stopper chose to stand on one side of the goal to put the Dutchman off. The Netherlands international however kept his cool and smashed the ball into the same corner that Kepa was covering.
The centre back gave a cold stare at Kepa after scoring his penalty. Ian Wright went on to call it a ‘look of disdain’.
“With the Virgil penalty – to see Arrizabalga standing in the corner and Virgil still put it in that corner – and then it’s the way that Virgil looked at him afterwards.”
“He gave him such a look of disdain, it was horrible. Virgil’s horrible!”
While the Arsenal legend’s comments were light-hearted and meant as a joke, Van Dijk and Liverpool really imposed themselves on Kepa and Chelsea during the penalty shootout. The Blues shot-stopper, regarded as a penalty specialist, surely saw that reputation take a hit against Jurgen Klopp’s mentality monsters.
However, Van Dijk’s audacious penalty and the glare afterwards, along with Fabinho’s ice-cool dinked paneka appeared to break Kepa’s confidence. The glare was a clear message of intent from Van Dijk that the Reds simply did not care about Kepa’s antics.
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Eventually, Kepa had a night to forget and the Reds, quite the opposite. Having clinched their first trophy of the season, Liverpool have kept their quadruple hopes alive and will want to continue with the same grit and determination in their quest to achieve the unprecedented honour.
