Liverpool were beaten 4-0 by Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday and Reds skipper Virgil van Dijk admitted teammate Conor Bradley had a rough time of it against Jeremy Doku
Virgil van Dijk
Van Dijk reacts during Liverpool's defeat by Man City(Image: Offside via Getty Images)
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Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk admits teammate Conor Bradley had a 'difficult' time against man of the match Jeremy Doku in the Reds' 3-0 defeat by Manchester City. Doku scored a stunner and was the best player on the pitch as City cruised to victory.
He won a penalty after VAR adjudged Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili had brought the Belgian down early in the piece, but Erling Haaland missed from the spot.
The Norwegian quickly made amends, however, heading the opener shortly afterwards. Van Dijk thought he had equalised against the run of play but linesman's offside flag denied him as Andy Robertson ducked out of the way of the Dutchman's goalbound header while in an offside position.
Van Dijk's misery was compounded when he inadvertently deflected Nico Gonzale's strike past Mamardashvili in first-half stoppage time.
Doku made the game safe after 63 minutes with a sumptuous strike, prompting Gary Neville to name him man of the match with half an hour still to play.
"In football the officials are deciding the key decisions and we have to deal with it on the pitch, Van Dijk said of his disallowed goal on Sky Sports. "There is no point discussing this from my point of view. The reality is that we lost 3-0 and that is a big blow.
"It doesn't matter what I say [about the goal] because anything I say will be in the media and the whole international break will be about my comment on the decision. I just focus on the fact we lost. You guys can debate if it should have stood.
Virgil van Dijk
Van Dijk saw his celebrations cut short at the Etihad
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"The first half was difficult and they were much more comfortable on the ball and it was difficult for our guys to put pressure on them. I don't think there was a lot of danger, but Doku had a good game and it was difficult for Conor [Bradley] in the one on one at times. I don't think we were much in trouble but we could have done better.
"We had to dig deep in the second half. We got more momentum in possession but out pressing wasn't good enough.
"It's about finding consistency and carrying on. Now we go to our countries, stay fit and be ready for a big run after. We are not going to give up whatsoever. We are in November and we are ready for a long season and a big fight."
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