English Premier League referee Tony Harrington. (Photo by Mark Atkins/Getty Images)
Virgil van Dijk has accused referee Tony Harrington of not being able to officiate Liverpool's match with Fulham properly due to him being “nervous”.
The Reds had to settle for a 2-2 draw in a ding-dong battle at Anfield, twice coming from behind to pick up a point.
Report: Liverpool will have to pay nearly £100m to sign the Premier League target
In fact, Liverpool would probably have been quite happy with the draw given Andy Robertson's 17th-minute red card, which came just six minutes after Andreas Pereira had put Fulham ahead.
but Liverpool He still managed 16 shots and 2.26 xG and on another day, he could have easily pulled off a huge victory.
Robertson was sent off for denying Fulham a goal-scoring opportunity when he brought down Harry Wilson inside the penalty area.
While this decision was very clear, Liverpool still had plenty of reasons to be frustrated with Harrington in the opening minutes.
It appeared that Robertson suffered an injury in the second minute when Issa Diop caught him with a strong challenge and received a yellow card.
Just minutes later, Pereira also received a yellow card after grabbing Ryan Grafenbrech's heel in what amounted to a terrible challenge.
Former referee Mike Dean believes Pereira should have been given his marching orders for the challenge.
“Pereira caught Gravenberch on top of the Achilles tendon and scraped him. He's nowhere near the ball. He knew what he was doing. It's 100% a red card,” Dean told Sky Sports. Cobb Empire).
Two minutes later, Pereira opened the scoring for Fulham, and within eight minutes Robertson was sent off.
Virgil van Dijk criticizes “nervous” referee Tony Harrington
It was a chaotic start to the match, to say the least, which, according to Van Dijk, Harrington failed to control, and showed clear signs of nerves.
“A great comeback is a very positive thing. It's disappointing to have 10 men but we showed fight, we kept trying to create chances. It's very disappointing,” Van Dijk said after the match (via BBC Sport).
“Stay calm. It's easier said than done. It was always difficult against them. We saw that last year and last week against Arsenal. We had to turn it around and keep fighting. We tried.
“I had conversations with the Fulham players and we felt the referee was tense. I felt he couldn't communicate properly with Robertson. We can't blame the referee. We all talk about protecting the referee but I couldn't talk to him. It shouldn't be a big deal because he's not The reason for losing points.
“It is what it is. We are picking up points, recovering quickly and being ready for Wednesday.
