Virgil van Dijk cut a frustrated figure as Michael Oliver blew the final whistle on a dour draw between Liverpool and Manchester United.
The Dutchman was reportedly heard addressing opposition ‘keeper Andre Onana in the tunnel after the game, with his comments relayed on X by Alex Crook.
Virgil van Dijk to Onana in the tunnel. 'because of you we only played a half hour game.' Onana responds with a smile #LFC #MUFC
— Alex Crook ⚽️🎙 (@alex_crook) December 17, 2023
The sharing of the available spoils at L4 leaves the Merseysiders a point off Arsenal at the league summit (following a 2-0 win over Brighton) and only four points ahead of incumbent champions Manchester City.
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Time wasting unsurprising
Just like our skipper’s frustrations, the tactics Manchester United employed away from home were far from surprising.
Whilst it was entirely possible that we could have walked away with another huge scoreline to send the Old Trafford faithful into an early hibernation ahead of Christmas, there was always the alternate possibility. And one heavily overlooked by the pre-game discourse.
Credit to United – they got exactly what they came for.
Now Liverpool could do with some serious introspection after failing to carve out enough high-quality opportunities to put their league rivals to the sword at Anfield.