Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk claimed that Amine Adli’s stoppage-time winner against his side should not have stood after he was blocked in the build-up to the goal.
Bournemouth shocked the Reds with their first two goals of the game separated by just seven minutes.
Liverpool defender Joe Gomez was injured attempting to block the first, and his teammates then played until the second goal with only ten men as he received treatment.
However, Liverpool came back from the two-goal deficit to draw level with Bournemouth, but were eventually beaten 3-2 after Adli poked home James Hill’s long throw in the fifth minute of stoppage time on Saturday.
Van Dijk and his teammates immediately protested with the referee as Adli celebrated with the Bournemouth home fans. The defender felt he had been impeded as he looked to block the Bournemouth forward’s shot.
But after a VAR check that led to the referee going over to view the replay on the pitchside monitor, the Dutch centre-back was adjudged to not have been blocked, and the goal stood.
Van Dijk criticizes referee’s call over third Bournemouth goal
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Virgil van Dijk doubled down on his assertions that the referee wrongly dismissed the foul on him.
“What I felt on that pitch was that I was clearly blocked,” Van Dijk said. “The referee and the VAR don’t give it.”
“That is something we will have to accept. I can stand here and say it should not be given but it was. It is what it is,” he added.
The latest defeat leaves Liverpool winless in their last five Premier League matches, but Van Dijk believes the team is as unified as ever despite the result.
“Losing never feels good, especially as a Liverpool player,” he said. “It is a tough one to take but Wednesday will be another game. Now we go home and focus on that one.”
“I don’t think there’s any question about our togetherness, but the consistency we are looking for is something that still needs to be found. That is the reality.”
