Virgil van Dijk Explains Defensive Errors in Liverpool Draw With Brighton

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Virgil van Dijk has taken responsibility for a mistake which led to Brighton’s opening goal in the draw with Liverpool at the Amex Stadium.

A lackadaisical pass from the Liverpool captain into the feet of Alexis Mac Allister ultimately led to Simon Adingra making it 1-0 to Brighton. The under-hit ball was cut out by the wide player who would then catch out Alisson Becker with an early effort on goal which spun into the bottom left corner of the net.

Liverpool fought back after going behind – for the fifth time this season – eventually taking the lead thanks to a quick-fire brace from Mohamed Salah, however another lapse in concentration at the back gifted Brighton a second goal in the 78th minute.

Andrew Robertson inexplicably let a set piece from the left flank fly past his body, allowing Lewis Dunk to steam in to make it 2-2.

Speaking after the draw to the club’s official website, Van Dijk took responsibility for the concession of the opening goal and also explained how Brighton equalised late on:

“It’s not only [Alexis Mac Allister being tackled], it’s me as well, it’s a risky ball. But obviously, we try to play out from the back and unfortunately, these things could happen in football and you get punished immediately, it’s the highest level.

“Miscommunication [led to the second goal]. I think Robbo heard a shout and he thought it was Alisson, it’s a miscommunication and shouldn’t happen. But nobody wants to make mistakes.

“Unfortunately this was a miscommunication that cost us a goal. But overall I’m still proud of my team and there’s a lot of good things that we have been showing over the last couple of weeks. Now the international break is coming up and we have to get healthy through that, hopefully, everyone is successful and then back for a very interesting couple of games.”

The disappointing draw means that Liverpool remain in fourth place heading into the international break – adrift of Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur in the early stages of the 2023/24 campaign.

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