Jurgen Klopp delighted with Virgil van Dijk's 'brilliant header' as Liverpool knock Everton out of FA Cup
Klopp questioned whether his side should have been awarded their penalty in the first half
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jurgen Klopp described Virgil van Dijk’s match-winning header as “brilliant” after Liverpool’s record signing climbed highest to score on his debut and knock Everton out of the FA Cup at Anfield.
Liverpool led through James Milner’s penalty, awarded controversially for a challenge by Mason Holgate on Adam Lallana, before Gylfi Sigurdsson equalised in the second half. But Van Dijk scored from a corner to prevent a replay and send his new club into the fourth round.
“It was nice that Virgil van Dijk could score in his first game, a brilliant header,” Klopp said. ”I am really happy. In front of the Kop makes it even better.
“It was not the best piece of football for 95 minutes, but a proper fight. I’m delighted with the attitude we showed again – it was a difficult game. It was not the night for brilliant football. You would love to see that but Everton defended well. They played football, a big difference to the last game between us.”
However, Klopp criticised his side’s defending which led to the equaliser, describing it as ”the worst protection I ever saw in my life. It made no sense at all. We were all in the wrong direction. But when you make mistakes in football you have to react and we did again.”
He added that he did not think the penalty was the correct decision. “It was a similar situation [to the penalty against Liverpool for Everton last month]: the first one was no penalty in my opinion and this one wasn’t also. It’s the same.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments