Tottenham suffered a lethal blow in their hopes of reaching the Carabao Cup final after suffering a defeat at the hands of Liverpool. Currently, in a very disappointing 14th place in the Premier League, they should take care of making the most out of what remains to salvage the season.
Retired referee Keith Hackett believes that Van Dijk was lucky to escape being punished for what can be defined as an elbow on Richarlison on Thursday.
Liverpool dominated Tottenham with a commanding 4-0 win, booking their place in a second consecutive Carabao Cup final. While the semi-final second leg felt straightforward—Liverpool registering 26 shots with 10 on target—the match could have taken a different turn if referee Craig Pawson, backed by VAR, had acted on Van Dijk’s early clash with Richarlison.
Former PGMOL chief weighs in on the controversial elbow incident
Former PGMOL chief and ex-Premier League ref Keith Hackett commented on the game’s controversial decision to not send Van Dijk off. While many argued that the Dutch defender’s challenge was a serious foul play, the 80-year-old provided a candid assessment.
After a prolonged period of injury, Richarlison found himself in another painful situation as a result of a duel with Van Dijk. When they disputed a throw-in deep in Tottenham’s half, the Liverpool CB moved himself in front of his rival.
Next Van Dijk thrashed out a limb to protect the ball, impacting Richarlison’s chin with his elbow. Hackett thinks the offender was “very, very lucky” not to be penalized. Despite the clash causing a stoppage in play, the referee did not award a free-kick, and Van Dijk avoided any disciplinary action.
The ex-PGMOL chief speaking to FootballInsider, provided his outtake
“This was at the very least reckless, and therefore should have been minimum yellow card, it bordered on excessive force. But I think I’d just give him the benefit of the doubt and go yellow not red.”
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While Richarlison’s past with Everton naturally fuels rivalry, no one expected Virgil van Dijk to stoop so low. With that, Tottenham’s hopes of ending their 6,000-day trophy drought faded into the night.
