Former Premier League referee Chris Foy has explained why Virgil van Dijk rightly only picked up a yellow card for his challenge on Amadou Onana.
During the second half of Saturday’s Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, the Dutchman was booked for a challenge on the Everton midfielder. However, replays seemed to suggest that the Liverpool man was lucky to only pick up a booking.
Darren England, on VAR duty for the game, is believed to have reviewed the tackle and opted to stick with referee Anthony Taylor’s original on field decision. But when asked post-match if he felt Van Dijk's foot was high on Onana, Blues boss Frank Lampard responded: "Absolutely. I've heard a lot this week insinuating my players were time-wasting at the game at Leeds.
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"There were some things said last season that were negative about my players and decisions we got the wrong end of. I love Virgil van Dijk.
“As a player he's fantastic, sometimes you mistime tackles and they are bad. If you look at the moment he connects with Amadou up on his shin and Amadou's foot is on the ground, then I'm surprised it's not gone to VAR.
"The referee hasn't gone to look at it and hasn't had the chance to make the correct decision. For me, it was a red card and of course that changes the face of the last 20 minutes or so. I just feel the referee got that one wrong."
But after reviewing the call made by Taylor, Foy has explained why the Greater Manchester-based match official made the correct call in only giving Van Dijk a yellow card.
“Anthony Taylor had an excellent Merseyside derby and he was absolutely right to show the yellow card to Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk for his challenge on Amadou Onana,” he told the Daily Mail.
“Taylor was in close proximity to the incident, perfectly positioned, and adjudged the challenge reckless and worthy of a caution. It would have been checked by the VAR who was within his rights to upgrade had he wanted to, but instead agreed with the on-field referee’s decision.
“For the challenge to be deemed dangerous and worthy of a red you have to look at speed and intensity of challenge, use of excessive force, and there was none of that. It was reckless.”
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