Former midfielder-turned-pundit Roy Keane, on punditry duty for Sky Sports, suggested that Virgil van Dijk – who scored the match-winner in Liverpool’s 2-1 win over West Ham United on Sunday afternoon – was perhaps lucky not to have his goal ruled out by VAR.
Arne Slot’s men extended their gap between themselves and Arsenal at the summit of the Premier League table to 13 points after Van Dijk spared his and Andy Roberson’s blushes in the 89th minute of their Anfield-based encounter on the weekend.
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Luis Diaz opened the scoring within 18 minutes after Mohamed Salah’s exquisite, outside-the-boot pass wowed the home contingent, but Graham Potter’s West Ham were back in the tie after Robertson prodded the ball into his own net with four minutes to play.
On the defensive mix-up between the skipper and Robertson which led to the east Londoners finding an equaliser in the 86th minute of regulation time, neither Keane nor Les Ferdinand could pinpoint who was to blame. The former pundit said:
“[Aaron] Wan-Bissaka does well, West Ham were threatening. I’m not sure who’s to blame for this. Me and Les [Ferdinand] are looking at it, does Andy Robertson need to come across there? Obviously, he looks really annoyed.”
Irrespective of who was at fault, Van Dijk – widely regarded as one of the greatest Premier League players of all time – rose the highest in the other box to thump his header past a hapless Alphonse Areola, who was rooted to the spot, to make it 2-1 and, thus, win the game.
But the former Manchester United skipper, Keane, wondered whether Andy Madley and the VAR team missed out on a potential shove on West Ham marksman Nicklas Fullkrug as Van Dijk leapt to meet Alexis Mac Allister’s inch-perfect corner.
Speaking on Sky Sports‘ coverage of the fixture, Keane questioned why VAR didn’t get involved following the altercation in the West Ham box before praising Slot’s side for doing ‘what champions do’ by digging deep to find all three points.
“Nice little shove there isn’t there! I thought VAR might want to look at that, but obviously not. But Liverpool do what champions do – they find a way to win.”
Presenter Kelly Cates – whose father, Kenny Dalglish, is of a Liverpool persuasion – fired back at the ex-midfielder: “Roy, as you know, VAR is constantly looking and reviewing every situation, particularly those involving goal decisions.”
While Cates was in mid-flow to remind fans at home that VAR is always on hand to rectify incorrect decision if needs must, you can hear Keane mutter “Of course they are.” in the background.
The Reds are now six points away from being crowned Premier League champions for just the second time in their storied history. With one hand on the famous trophy already, all Slot’s side require is two wins from their six remaining games.
Slot – regarded as one of the best managers in the Premier League right now – could etch his name into the history books, while Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Arsenal are all in line to potentially give Liverpool a Guard of Honour should they get the job over the line.
