Virgil van Dijk has suggested Manchester City’s treatment at the hands of the Liverpool crowd on Sunday was a sign of things to come and something their players will have to get used to. The Liverpool captain also indicated he would make his views known about City’s rule-breaking but said he wanted to wait until their appeal was completed.
City were barracked throughout the game at Anfield, their first since they were found guilty of almost all the charges they faced in relation to breaking the Premier League’s financial rules between 2009 and 2018. An independent commission declared that City had overstated their income by £830.69m and would have been in breach of spending regulations in the Premier League and Europe if they had provided a true picture of their finances.
The Anfield crowd denounced City as cheats in various chants and Van Dijk said it was impossible for the players not to hear them. City were unaffected, running out 3-0 winners after the game turned on the 62nd-minute dismissal of the Liverpool midfielder Ryan Gravenberch.
“I think everyone could hear it,” Van Dijk said. “Everyone can share their feelings and I don’t think Anfield will be the only place where it will be the case because fans will have their feelings. But for players I don’t think it is a good idea at this moment in time [to share their feelings].”
City’s appeal hearing must be completed before Christmas and a verdict then communicated within 30 days. They continue to deny wrongdoing. “It’s still a little bit ongoing so I don’t think it’s smart for me to comment on it right now,” Van Dijk said. “But when the [appeal] verdict comes out I will definitely have my opinion and I will probably share it.”
Van Dijk was asked about City beating Liverpool to titles. Did it change how he felt about those battles? “No,” he said. “Because I really enjoyed our rivalry and it was a great rivalry on the pitch. What happened off the pitch is for others to find a conclusion on and then let’s see.”
Van Dijk was unhappy about the Gravenberch sending-off, complaining that his teammate’s first yellow card for a foul on Elliot Anderson was soft. Liverpool also highlighted what they felt was an inconsistency after their player Ronald Araújo was booked early on for waving an imaginary card and demanding that Marc Guéhi be booked for diving.
When Gravenberch fouled the City substitute Jérémy Doku for his second yellow, Erling Haaland held up his right hand and appeared to suggest the offence merited a booking. Meanwhile, Rúben Dias and Guéhi ran towards the referee, Chris Kavanagh, with Guéhi appearing to point towards the tunnel. Kavanagh took no action against the City players.
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“Was the red card the right decision? That’s for others [to decide],” Van Dijk said. “I don’t even know how the first yellow card [for Gravenberch] was. But after the first minute when Araújo got a yellow card for asking for a yellow card, there were so many other players from the other team asking for a red card. That’s just that. We can’t use it as an excuse. We went down to 10 men and conceded pretty quickly after that and then it’s a very tough one.”
