Fans say Virgil van Dijk 'pocketed' Erling Haaland as Man City star fires blank against Liverpool

Fans reckon Virgil van Dijk 'pocketed' Erling Haaland as the Manchester City star fired blank against Liverpool.

Van Dijk starred as Liverpool handed Man City the first defeat of their Premier League season.

The Dutchman has been subjected to criticism for his below par performances this campaign, but he turned back the clock to deliver a commanding showing at the back.

And in the process, he kept Haaland quiet and stopped him from scoring on Sunday.

Van Dijk also made a crucial clearance to deny Haaland an opportunity at goal.

The Norwegian striker failed to add to his incredible 15-goal league tally as fans online claimed he was nullified by the 31-year-old defender.

Erling Haaland challenges with Joe Gomez. Image: Alamy

One Twitter user wrote: "Van Dijk is in the worst form of his Liverpool career and he had Haaland in his pocket throughout the whole game."

A second tweeted: "These type of strikers are cake for Virgil van Dijk. Now take Haaland out of your pocket bro that's enough."

A third added: "My GOAT Van Dijk rolled it back and dropped an all-time classic performance to pocket Haaland again. The streak goes on."

Another commented: "Erling Haaland won't be playing the next PL game on account of being in Virgil van Dijk's back pocket."

The Anfield scoreboard at full-time. Image: Alamy

Speaking after the 1-0 win, Van Dijk said: "It's good to get three points. It was always going to be very intense. Today was nothing different.

"We won and that is the most important thing. It is blood and thunder out there. Lots of running. We showed a lot of fight today.

"We did very well today, it was important to get the clean sheet, so now we move on."

Mohamed Salah scored the game's only goal as Liverpool recorded a huge win that could turn their season around.

Jurgen Klopp's team move to eighth place in the table while Pep Guardiola's side occupy second spot.