In the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final, Tottenham beat Liverpool 1-0 at home. The only goal was scored by Lucas Bergvall in the 86th minute.
Notably, in this match, Bergvall received a yellow card in the 68th minute. After that, the 18-year-old midfielder continued to have a dangerous tackle on Tsimikas, but the referee did not give Bergvall another yellow card.
Bergvall scored the only goal shortly afterwards from Dominic Solanke's pass, giving Tottenham a small advantage ahead of the second leg of the semi-final.
The referee's decision made Liverpool's coaching staff and players very angry.
"There should have been a second yellow card for Bergvall," Van Dijk told Sky Sports after the match.
“It was pretty clear, and then a minute later he scored the winning goal. It was clear the referee was at fault. Everyone knows that. There was a linesman in the situation, a fourth official, VAR but no second yellow card.
I'm not saying that's why we lost, but it was an important moment in the game," the Liverpool captain said.
Liverpool used their strongest lineup in this match. But they were deadlocked throughout the match, in stark contrast to their 6-3 victory at Tottenham not long ago.
"We played against a strong team with good attacking players who kept pressing and making things difficult for us. Liverpool created chances, not really clear but in my opinion enough to score.
“Sometimes we can do better. That's part of football. Sometimes we played better than them, but they defended much better than when they played us here a few weeks ago,” Van Dijk added.
Coach Arne Slot agreed with Van Dijk's comments. He shared: "The referee's decision had a big impact on the result tonight."
The second leg of the semi-final between the two sides will be played at Anfield on February 6. This weekend, Liverpool face League Two side Accrington Stanley in the third round of the FA Cup, while Spurs travel to National League side Tamworth.
