Van Dijk’s debut goal takes Reds through
LIVERPOOL: Virgil van Dijk scored a dramatic late winner on his debut as Liverpool clinched a 2-1 victory over Everton in a heated Merseyside derby FA Cup tie at Anfield.
Liverpool had led 1-0 at the break after James Milner converted from the penalty spot but Everton looked to have secured a replay when Gylfi Sigurdsson equalised midway through the second half.
But Van Dijk, who became the world’s most expensive defender when he joined the Reds from Southampton, headed home six minutes from time.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp handed a debut to record £75 million signing Van Dijk as he 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. Everton were also at full strength.
If the atmosphere in the stands crackled, on the pitch, it was equally feisty. Wayne Rooney scythed down Joe Gomez early on and was duly shown a yellow card. The breakthrough came five minutes after the halfhour mark when Liverpool were awarded a penalty by referee Bobby Madley. Milner made no mistake with the spot-kick as he dispatched the ball past Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford with confidence.
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.
But Klopp’s side were unable to provide the decisive touch and Everton hit them with an equaliser on the counter attack. Yannick Bolasie won possession and found 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 cornerpast 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 five minutes from time.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s delivery was met by Van Dijk, who towered above Jagielka and headed home in front of the Kop with goalkeeper Pickford partially at fault as he failed to punch clear.