Virgil van Dijk reveals what he told referee after Liverpool's defeat to Tottenham

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Virgil van Dijk says he told referee Stuart Attwell he had made a ‘mistake’ not sending off Tottenham match-winner Lucas Bergvall before youngster’s late goal against Liverpool.

Bergvall scored the only goal of the game in tonight’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg, giving hosts Spurs a 1-0 advantage ahead of the sides’ meeting at Anfield in a month’s time.

The 86th-minute strike was Bergvall’s first ever goal for the club and the joy was written all over the 18-year-old’s face as he wheeled away to celebrate with Tottenham’s jubilant fans.

But visitors Liverpool – the defending champions – felt the teenager should have been given his marching orders for a second bookable offence just a minute earlier in the play at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Bergvall had been shown a yellow card for a clumsy sliding challenge on Luis Diaz in the 68th minute and Liverpool’s away support were up in arms after the Swede went unpunished for a later foul on Kostas Tsimikas – which appeared far worse than his first.

‘Listen, I think it was quite obvious that it was going to be a second yellow,’ Liverpool captain Van Dijk told Sky Sports shortly after the final whistle.

‘I think that was pretty clear and it was a coincidence that a minute later he scores the winner.

‘But it is what it is. He made a mistake in my opinion and I told him that.

‘He thinks maybe he didn’t but it was quite obvious.

‘Everyone on the sideline knew exactly that it was supposed to be a yellow.’

While Van Dijk was adamant Bergvall should have been sent off, he was reluctant to use it as an excuse for the result.

‘The fact is that he should have been off,’ the Dutchman added.

‘I think there is a linesman there, there is a fourth official there, there is VAR, there is a referee and he doesn’t get a second yellow.

‘I’m not saying that this is the reason we lost, of course, tonight, but it was a big moment in the game.’

The Netherlands defender remains confident Liverpool can turn their fortunes around in the second leg and secure progression into final for a second straight year.

‘Obviously we were playing against an intense team with good attacking players that can make it difficult and keep running,’ he went on.

‘I think we created good moments, good opportunities at times, not really clear-cut chances in my opinion, but still enough that we could have scored.

‘Unfortunately, we didn’t. It’s a cliche but it’s half-time now and I’m looking forward to the game back at Anfield.’

Tottenham suffered a crushing 6-3 defeat at the hands of Liverpool just a fortnight ago and Van Dijk admitted Tottenham ‘defended much better’ than they had in their Premier League meeting.

‘I think we could have done better but that’s part of football,’ he continued.

‘We tried to play our best game ever, every one of us, and at times we played through them nicely, created some one-vs-ones and some dangerous moments.

‘But they were able to defend much better than they did when we played them a couple of weeks ago.

‘We move on, take it on the chin and, like I said, it’s half-time. We have another 90 minutes to go and I’m really looking forward to that.’

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