Virgil Van Dijk
There was a rather eye-catching moment during Liverpool's Carabao Cup win over Chelsea on Wednesday night, when Virgil van Dijk was knocked to the ground by Netherlands teammate Emmanuel Emegha. The Dutch defender has now spoken out on the incident.
The Reds were able to advance to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals as they saw off their Premier League rivals at home. Morgan Rogers opened the scoring with a 40th-minute penalty, but Cody Gakpo delivered an equaliser just three minutes later, with his strike also coming from 12 yards.
With no extra time, the game went straight to penalties, having finished 1-1 after 90 minutes. Valentin Barco, Konstantinos Tsimikas, Ryan Gravenberch, and Emegha all missed, but it was Wesley Fofana's failure that ended the spot-kicks, with Liverpool winning the shootout 6-5.
Van Dijk Clashes With Emegha
REUTERS/David Klein
As mentioned before, there was a strange moment during the game when Emegha was pressing the Liverpool defenders. Van Dijk had possession, but despite having passed the ball to a teammate seconds earlier, the Chelsea man belatedly charged into the centre-back, quite deliberately pushing him to the ground.
The incident was spotted by many and quickly went viral on social media. You can watch it below:
It's particularly interesting that Van Dijk is Emegha's international captain, as the Dutch pair have played together on two occasions for the country. After the game, the Liverpool defender was asked for his thoughts on the shove and didn't seem that impressed, as he bluntly said:
"Ask him. I don't know. Maybe he's trying to get into the national team as well and trying this way. I don't know. You have to ask him. When he comes by, just ask him."
Jordan Henderson
Jordan Henderson
What Van Dijk Said to the Referee After Emegha Incident
The odd incident was picked up on by former Arsenal striker Alan Smith during Sky Sports’ coverage, who noted: "He just carried on [running], very strange from the substitute, Van Dijk had something to say about that afterwards."
Referee Darren England didn't punish Emegha, and Van Dijk was clearly unhappy about it all as he angrily spoke to the official moments later. As per the Metro, expert lip-reader Nicola Hickling has now worked out what he likely said.
She claimed Van Dijk told the referee: "No, no, no. I am done with him and anything to do with football. He better give up."
Emegha is one of the lesser-known Chelsea stars, but has the chance to make a bit more of a name for himself in England over the coming weeks with Joao Pedro out injured. The Dutch forward signed in the summer for £21m, arriving from fellow BlueCo-owned side Strasbourg.
A hamstring injury has limited the 23-year-old so far, with the Liverpool defeat being his debut for the Blues. Having made a rather interesting immediate impression, Emegha could get a first Premier League outing this weekend against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.