There was a 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Arsenal fans were sure that Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk should have been sent off.
The first goal that tied the game for Liverpool was scored by Van Dijk, who headed in a corner kick in the 18th minute.
In the ninth minute, Bukayo Saka scored the first goal. In the second half, Mikel Merino and Mohamed Salah also scored goals. But Van Dijk got a yellow card for a hit off the ball on Kai Havertz before any of those goals.
The score was still 0-0 in the sixth minute when Van Dijk took the ball from Liverpool goalie Caoimhin Kelleher and passed it to Andy Robertson on the left.
Havertz had slowed down Van Dijk, but the German didn’t try to hit him. Van Dijk used his right hand to push Havertz away after the ball was gone. After this, the former Southampton back seemed to push the Arsenal forward with his left leg in a mean way.
Anthony Taylor, the referee, gave the ball away for free and did not show Van Dijk a yellow card.
When Van Dijk made a mistake, Sky Sports commentator Gary Neville said, “He was stupid, Van Dijk.” “He just got into a little fight and backed into him,” she said.
As Neville watched a repeat, he added, “A little elbow and then that.” Yes, he also kicks him out. Not smart. He doesn’t need to do it.
A lot of Gunners fans were angry that Taylor was thought to be being lenient.
Someone wrote on X (which used to be Twitter): “How the has Van Dijk gotten away with that???” It didn’t even get a yellow card when someone was hit and kicked off the ball.
Someone else wrote, “If an Arsenal player did what Van Dijk did to Kai Havertz, VAR would have called the ref and given him a straight red card.”
Another Arsenal fan sent a similar message that said, “And this was a red card offense from Van Dijk, but he wasn’t wearing an Arsenal kit.”
After Van Dijk scored, Arsenal fans were even more angry.
“So Van Dijk scores to tie the game not long after he should have been sent off,” one fan complained.
Someone else said, “Ah.” Van Dijk hits the goal. He should have been sent off. Certainly.’
So far this season, 14 players have been sent off in the Premier League. Three Arsenal stars—Declan Rice, Leandro Trossard, and William Saliba—are among them.
After Sunday’s game, Liverpool was in second place in the table, one point behind Manchester City, who were in first place.
Liverpool is in first place, four points ahead of Arsenal in third.
