Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has hit back at Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk, insisting he didn’t dive to win a penalty at Anfield on Sunday. Van Dijk branded Kane a diver after he won a penalty following a challenge from Reds goalkeeper Loris Karius.
The furious Dutchman insists referee Jon Moss got it absolutely wrong by awarding both the penalties to Spurs during a thrilling finale to Sunday’s 2-2 draw.
“I think the first penalty was offside and I think it is a dive,” Van Dijk was quoted by Liverpool Echo.
“You see him (Kane) diving clearly and no-one is talking about that. There is a lot of discussion about whether it is offside, yes or no, but I think it was offside as well. The referee made his decision together with the linesman. It was good for us that it was saved.
“For the second penalty, I see him coming and I try and hold my leg in, he just pulled his body in front of the ball and he goes down.
“The ref said play on and I was very disappointed that the linesman said otherwise. It is a decision the ref already made and the ref is close than the linesman. Unlucky I think.
“First of all it was offside and secondly he just put his body in front of me. I don’t think that is a pen and the same with the first one. That is also clearly not a penalty.”
However, Kane, who missed the first penalty, is adamant that it wasn’t a dive and that he was caught by Karius.
“He (Karius) has dived, he has got in the way and I’m a player, I’m not going to jump out of the way because it’s football,” the Spurs forward explained (as quoted by Liverpool Echo).
“I’ve definitely felt contact and I’ve gone down. For Lamela’s one, I thought the linesman showed amazing character to give that because a lot happened for the first one about the linesman so to give that penalty was massive and it was a penalty.”
It was a wild final few minutes at Anfield on Sunday. Mohamed Salah thought he gave the hosts three points by scoring in the 91st minute but Kane had different scripts in his mind and buried the penalty in injury-time to hand Spurs a vital point.
Both the decisions were debatable but in the end, we deserved a point for our efforts in second-half.
