A Dutch dream come true
Klopp: Van Dijk’s debut a fairy tale in a world with few fairy tales left
Liverpool’s record signing Virgil van Dijk’s winning goal in the 2-1 English FA Cup third round win over city rivals Everton was like a “fairytale”, according to manager Juergen Klopp.
Playing in his first game following his move from Southampton last week, Dutch defender Van Dijk headed in an 84th minute corner to secure victory in the Merseyside derby.
“Nice one! A fairy tale in a world with not a lot of fairy tales anymore, so I think something like that is quite special,” said a beaming Klopp.
The German manager had said he would not rush the £75mil (RM407mil) new recruit into the team but changed his mind earlier on Friday.
“It was a difficult decision to make to be honest because, to be 100% honest, the first plan was not to start him tonight but then Dejan (Lovren) and Raggy (Ragnar Klaven) played a lot of games in the last few weeks, so I changed my mind this morning. And it helped,” he said.
Van Dijk impressed in his defensive work before grabbing the winner and Klopp said he was pleased with everything he saw from the Dutch international.
“He showed a lot of things we want him to show in the future very often tonight; heading of course, football-wise his first touch was good, good under pressure and then around set-pieces a proper threat.”
Not surprisingly Van Dijk was delighted with his debut.
“I don’t think it can get any better. It was a fantastic night,” said the 26-year-old.
“To score the winner in a derby on my debut is something every little boy dreams of. I just did it.
“I’m very happy that we got through to the next round. We have a good chance to win this. I’m very happy to have my debut, to score and to win. It’s just fantastic.”
Liverpool had tried to sign Van Dijk before the start of the season only for Southampton to block the move until the January transfer window.
“Everyone has welcomed me very well. I just want to improve and work hard for the team, the club and the fans every day,” he said.
“There is still plenty of room for improvement. It’s just the start.”
By handing a debut to Van Dijk, Klopp selected arguably his strongest available starting line-up, in contrast to the 1-1 draw in the Premier League played out by the sides in December.
Brazil playmaker Philippe Coutinho was again ruled out with a thigh injury as speculation continues to mount over his future amid interest from Barcelona, while top scorer Mohamed Salah was missing with a groin problem.
Everton, who confirmed the sale of midfielder Ross Barkley to Chelsea in the hours leading up to the match, were also at full strength.
The atmosphere in the stands crackled and on the pitch it was equally feisty. Wayne Rooney scythed down Joe Gomez early on and was shown a yellow card.
Chances, though, were at a premium in the first half as Liverpool dominated possession. The breakthrough came five minutes after the half-hour mark when Liverpool were awarded a penalty by referee Bobby Madley.
Everton defender Mason Holgate used his arms on Adam Lallana, who had his back to goal inside the area, and the Liverpool midfielder went to ground.
Milner made no mistake with the spot-kick as he dispatched the ball past Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford with confidence. Klopp felt it was not a spot-kick. “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,” he said.
“It’s the same. There is contact and the referee used his whistle. Exactly the same situation.”
Tempers flared when Roberto Firmino was pushed into the advertising hoardings by Holgate before referee Madley stepped in to prevent the incident escalating further following an angry exchange of words.
Everton manager Sam Allardyce was more positive with his approach than the fixture last month, although the visitors found Liverpool’s defence, marshalled by Van Dijk, resilient and were unable to register a shot on target in the first half.
Rooney wrestled with Emre Can shortly after the break and perhaps fearing a red card was in the offing, Allardyce withdrew the experienced forward.
Liverpool continued to carve out chances but were unable to provide the decisive touch and Everton hit them with an equaliser on the counter attack.
Yannick Bolasie won possession and found Rooney’s replacement Ademola Lookman, who showed superb awareness to break forward before he found Phil Jagielka on the edge of the box.
Rather than shoot himself the defender laid the ball off for Sigurdsson, who calmly stroked the ball into the bottom corner of the net past the flat-footed Loris Karius.
However, Liverpool sealed passage to the fourth round – and their first win in five attempts on home turf against the Toffees in the competition – with a dramatic goal in the dying minutes.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s curling delivery was met by Van Dijk, who towered above Jagielka and powerfully headed home in front of the Kop with Everton goalkeeper Pickford partially at fault as he failed to punch clear. — Agencies