Virgil van Dijk Jokingly Branded 'Horrible' By Ian Wright For His Penalty Against Chelsea

Arsenal legend Ian Wright has jokingly branded Virgil van Dijk 'horrible' for his ruthlessly nonchalant penalty against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final. 

Van Dijk made no mistake from 12-yards, smashing home his penalty in Liverpool's shootout victory at Wembley Stadium last weekend. 

Kepa Arrizabalaga​, who was drafted on late in extra-time specifically for the shootout, tried to psych-out the Dutchman - but to no avail. 

He occupied one side of the net, with Van Dijk scoring on the keeper's side in an ice-cold moment. 

Ice in those veins 🥶

What a penalty, @VirgilvDijk 👏 pic.twitter.com/pAvnpdPA1f

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 28, 2022

Van Dijk's outrageous spot-kick caught the attention of Wright, who jokingly called him 'horrible' as he praised his penalty.

Speaking on his podcast, he said: "I saw stuff in the Carabao Cup that was pure crazy.

"With the Virgil penalty - to see Arrizabalaga standing in the corner and Virgil still put it in that corner - and then it's the way that Virgil looked at him afterwards."

Wright added: "He gave him such a look of disdain, it was horrible. Virgil's horrible!"

Fabinho converted an equally brilliant penalty as he dinked a sublime panenka past Kepa. 

​And Liverpool cameras captured Van Dijk's on-field reaction to the Brazilian's outrageous effort. 

Rio Ferdinand also showered Van Dijk with glowing praise following his 'Man of the Match' showing in the Carabao Cup final. 

The Manchester United legend highlighted the star defender's 'big switch' of pace.

"Virgil Van Dijk, leave him on the halfway line on his own, no problem," said Ferdinand. "This is what the top, top ones can do. 

"Van Dijk, I saw him last week in the Champions League when someone went through (Martinez) and he went one v one with them. He said 'I dare you play it past me.'

"The guy didn’t even try. He turned out and played sideways - Virgil has got that big switch (of pace), which is a bad weapon."