Virgil van Dijk made bombshell comments about the referee in explosive interview after Liverpool's 2-2 draw with Fulham.
10-man Liverpool fought back to claim a point at Anfield in a pulsating game full of controversy. After Issa Diop avoided a red card for a poorly timed challenge, Andreas Pereira put the visitors ahead 11 minutes into the clash at Anfield before Andy Robertson was sent off for taking out Harry Wilson when he was through on goal.
Cody Gakpo equalised shortly after half-time but the Reds were denied a penalty when VAR cleared an incident where Kenny Tete collided with Joe Gomez in the area as he tried to block a short.
Fulham were back in the lead when Rodrigo Munoz came off the bench to convert from a second pinpoint cross from Antonee Robinson but the returning Diogo Jota grabbed an equaliser for Liverpool four minutes from time.
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Liverpool skipper Van Dijk discussed the draw in a post-match interview but unleashed on official Tony Harrington, accusing him of being "nervous and not being able to "properly communicate" with players.
"I had conversations with the players of Fulham and we felt like the referee was nervous," Van Dijk said, as per the Daily Mail.
"He couldn't properly communicate with Robertson I felt.
"We can't put the blame on the referee. It shouldn't be a big thing because he isn't why we dropped points.
"It is what it is. We take the points, recover quickly and be ready for the game on Wednesday."
The result means Liverpool are five points clear at the top of the Premier League table, though Chelsea have the chance to cut the lead down to two with a win against Brentford on Sunday.
Even though Liverpool were a man down for large spells, they created plenty of chances in the second half and did enough to win the game.
Van Dijk hailed the fighting spirit showed by his team, adding: "A great comeback is very positive. It's disappointing having 10 men but we showed fight, kept trying to create chances. Could have been more but we take the point and move on.
"It was always going to be tough against them. We saw it last year and last week against Arsenal. We had to turn it around and keep fighting. We tried."
Liverpool return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Southampton for a Carabao Cup quarter-final. The Reds are the holders after beating Chelsea in the final under Jurgen Klopp last year.
Topics: Virgil Van Dijk, Liverpool
Josh Lawless