- Virgil van Dijk was seen mocking the referee's decision by asking if he had been drinking
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Virgil van Dijk responded to a decision by referee Chris Kavanagh by asking 'if he had been drinking' during Liverpool's 1-1 draw with Arsenal.
With the match tied at 1-1 in the second half, the Dutch defender complained about a Kavanagh call after a free-kick given in favor of Arsenal.
Van Dijk was adjudged to have given away a foul, and when the decision went in the Gunners' favour, the defender asked the referee if he had been drinking – complete with a gesture to drive home the point.
Despite the shocking reaction, Van Dijk was not booked for dissent from Kavanagh and his actions went unpunished.
Mail Sport has launched a campaign this season to stop abuse against referees.
Virgil van Dijk gestured to referee Chris Kavanagh and asked if he had been drinking after a call against Liverpool
The Dutch defender was unhappy with a free kick given against him in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal
Mail Sport has launched a campaign to stop the abuse of referees at all levels of the game
The Reds have received four bookings for dissent this season, with Fulham currently top of the table with 11.
Van Dijk was fortunate that he could not have increased that total due to his disappointing way of reacting to the referee's decision.
A lively match at Anfield saw seven yellow cards shown as both teams looked to seize the advantage in the title race, especially with Manchester City away at the FIFA Club World Cup.
Arsenal opened the scoring in the first minutes thanks to Gabriel's header that was given by VAR after offside.
Liverpool then thought they should have been awarded a penalty midway through the first half when Martin Odegaard appeared to fall with his hand on the ball in the Reds box.
However, the incident was not noticed by the referee and the VAR ruled that it was not a penalty against the Norwegian.
Mohamed Salah got Liverpool back into the match before half-time, but neither could force a winner in the second period as the match finished completely square.
The result puts Arsenal top of the table at Christmas, one point ahead of both second-placed Liverpool and Aston Villa, who could only draw against Sheffield United on Friday evening.