Virgil van Dijk got to do what many Liverpool fans would love to have done during the Merseyside derby at Anfield on Wednesday night.
The Reds chose the perfect occasion to return to winning ways after their two defeats prior to the international break, seeing off Everton thanks to Diogo Jota’s goal just before the hour mark.
The first half had one particularly controversial flashpoint, with James Tarkowski getting off with a yellow card for a dangerous lunge on Alexis Mac Allister which even left Gary Neville horrified that the Toffees defender wasn’t sent off.
The 32-year-old was also the scourge of Liverpool in the reverse fixture in February when he netted a stoppage time equaliser, so it’s safe to say that he isn’t in the good books among Reds supporters!
Van Dijk sends Tarkowski sprawling
At one point in the second half, Van Dijk seized his moment to exact some retribution on Everton’s number 6 when the latter had hold of his shirt.
The Reds captain showed that he’s not to be messed with as he casually shoved Tarkowski to the floor, which had Jordan Pickford (who later got away with a high challenge on Darwin Nunez) protesting to the referee and the fans in the Kop howling with laughter.
Tarkowski should’ve been long since off the pitch by then
The simple fact of the matter is that the former Burnley defender shouldn’t have been on the pitch at the time of that tussle with the Dutchman – how he managed to avoid a red card not just from on-field referee Sam Barrott but also from VAR for his lunge on Mac Allister demands a proper explanation.
That won’t have been lost on Van Dijk when the opportunity came up to take matters into his own hands by showing Tarkowski who’s boss.
Maybe the Everton centre-back will think twice the next time he flies into a reckless challenge on a teammate of the Liverpool captain!
Check out the skirmish between Van Dijk and Tarkowski below, via @TRENTSALAHJOTA on X (formerly Twitter):
pic.twitter.com/qzAUx9PRwm
— How many points clear Welbeast? (@TRENTSALAHJOTA) April 2, 2025
