The verdict on Virgil van Dijk’s contentious challenge on Amadou Onana – which left the Everton man fuming on social media – is that it was NOT worthy of a red card, according to Dermot Gallagher.
The former Premier League official, who left his calling in 2007, explained that the nature of the challenge, lacking ‘speed and intensity’, meant a yellow card was the right call to punish our No.4, much to the surprise of co-presenter Rob Wotton.
In our Dutch colossus’ defence, it’s clear that the intention wasn’t to injure his opponent during the Mersesyside derby, given that his leg was moving to intercept before the ball was played.
That being said, it’s one of the challenges that we would have likely called for more serious consequences had it occurred against one of Jurgen Klopp’s men, so we reckon the defender may have enjoyed a bit of good fortune there.
You can catch the clip below, courtesy of Sky Sports (via @footballdaily):
Foul + yellow card ✅
red card ❌Dermot Gallagher disagrees with Frank Lampard claims that Virgil van Dijk should have received a red card pic.twitter.com/qbO3bmtPU9
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) September 5, 2022