If not for Riyad Mahrez blazing his penalty high into the Anfield Road end, Virgil Van Dijk could well have been seen as the villain of the weekend after his clumsy foul on Leroy Sane gave Man City a chance to secure a win at Anfield for the first time since 2003.
However, the Algerian’s penalty was a shocker and as such, the game between Liverpool and the champions ended goalless, a result which will please both sides.
Pep Guardiola openly admitted that he asked his players to play differently than they normally would do against almost any other opposition, such is the respect that he has for the Reds and Van Dijk speaking to the Guardian, suggested that City’s change in tactics should be taken as a compliment by Liverpool.
Obviously, they were a bit cautious of the way we played and I think we have earned that respect but they still pressed and still tried to play their game. We made it difficult for them and they made it difficult for us at times. We tried to win but at the end, we need to be happy – I need to be happy – that we didn’t lose it because of the penalty. They came as the champions and it was lucky they didn’t score but also unlucky we didn’t score either.
Speaking about the penalty, Van Dijk admitted that he was “not smart” to dive in on Sane.
It was not smart from me personally and hopefully it will never happen again. Eighty‑five minutes, you obviously get a bit fatigued and that moment goes by in a split second and I decided to dive in, which is not what I would normally do. It was a decision I made and hopefully it will be the last time I make that decision at that time.
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