- The Liverpool captain thought he had opened the scoring in Sunday’s final
- Virgil van Dijk’s opening goal was disallowed after VAR reviewed the decision
- Xabi Alonso is smart and will do what is best for him. He won’t make an emotional decision about his next management job. Listen to the It’s all Kicking Off podcast
Did Wataru Endo’s block on Levi Colwill mean a red carpet was rolled out for Virgil van Dijk to score? No, that didn’t happen.
Van Dijk was followed by Ben Chilwell, who lost the aerial duel as Liverpool took the lead. Hardly anyone in a Chelsea shirt even considered complaining to the referee because Endo’s block on Colwill was completely normal.
It happens dozens of times a match and most Premier League clubs hire specialist coaches who come up with these clever routines.
Yet VAR suggested that Endo, who was initially in an offside position, interfered in the scoring of this goal and played a key role in stopping Colwill’s run.
I thought this was a lame reason to disallow a goal in a cup final.
Virgil van Dijk was followed by Ben Chilwell, who lost the aerial duel as Liverpool took the lead in the first half before the goal was chalked up
Hardly anyone in a Chelsea shirt even considered complaining to the referee because Wataru Endo’s block on Levi Colwill was completely normal
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Mauricio Pochettino used his pre-match press conference to call on Liverpool not to receive freebies in this final just because Jurgen Klopp left – comments that could land him in trouble with the Football Association – but this was a huge favor to Chelsea.
At least justice was done in the end when Van Dijk headed Liverpool to victory at the end of extra time. There was no exclusion of that.