Van Dijk was shown a straight red card at St James’ Park
Gary Lineker divided opinions on social media after he gave his verdict on Virgil van Dijk’s straight red card.
Van Dijk was given an instant dismissal at St James’ Park on Sunday after he was adjudged to have clipped Newcastle Untied forward, Aleksander Isak.
The Liverpool captain and his manager Jurgen Klopp were both stunned at referee John Brook’s decision to send him off and after a quick VAR check, Brooks was told to stick with his decision.
Many felt that the call to send the Dutchman off was the right one however Match of the Day host Lineker felt that the defender was unfortunate to be given his marching orders.
He tweeted: “Might not be the general consensus but that looked like a very harsh red card to me.@VirgilvDijk clearly got the ball. Maybe my eyes are getting worse in my old age.”
While there were many who disagreed, some also felt that Lineker was right and that the red should’ve been overturned.
Just three minutes earlier, former Everton winger Anthony Gordon had given the hosts the lead after he capitalised on Trent Alexander Arnold’s sloppy mistake.
Alexander-Arnold was also at the centre of a controversial moment early into the first half after he was given a yellow card for throwing the ball away. He then almost picked up a second booking after fouling Gordon but despite the protests of Newcastle’s players, staff and fans, the England international was given nothing more than a warning.
Although the odds were seemingly against them, the Klopp’s side managed to fight back to win a point after substitute Darwin Nunez came off the bench and kept his composure as he arrowed a strike into the bottom right.
Nunez then completed the comeback in the most dramatic of fashions with a carbon copy finish of his first as he buried the ball past Nick Pope to secure an unlikely victory
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