Virgil van Dijk was shown a straight red card in Liverpool’s 2-1 victory over Newcastle last month – but he could receive longer than the one-match ban he got given
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk is facing a longer ban after ignoring orders from John Brooks as he left the pitch following his red card against Newcastle.
The 32-year-old was shown a red card during Liverpool’s 2-1 victory at St James’ Park after bringing down Alexander Isak before the forward could get through on goal. Referee Brooks was in no doubt and reached for his back pocket to send the Dutchman off after committing the foul.
VAR had another look at the incident but chose to stick with Brooks’ on field decision, meaning the Reds would have to play over an hour with 10 men. Liverpool were 1-0 down at the time of Van Dijk’s dismissal, but they managed to come back and win the match 2-1 thanks to a late Darwin Nunez brace.
But it is safe to say Van Dijk was far from pleased with his red card. The Netherlands international could be heard telling Brooks that his decision was a “f***ing joke”. Van Dijk also appeared to remonstrate with fourth official Craig Pawson before Jurgen Klopp intervened and the defender walked down the tunnel.