Everton 0-0 Liverpool: Lampard says Van Dijk deserved red card - Ref explained why he's wrong

Everton and Liverpool battled out a hard-fought 0-0 draw in Saturday’s 12:30 kick-off.

It was a typically feisty Merseyside derby with challenges flying in from all angles.

Referee Anthony Taylor opted to take a lenient approach to proceedings, preferring to let the game flow as much as possible despite the regularity of foul play.

However, Everton fans were left fuming after Virgil van Dijk only received a yellow card for his late tackle on Amadou Onana.

With the Everton midfielder rushing forward, the Dutchman made an uncharateristically rash decision to lunge into a tackle on Onana.

He narrowly missed the ball, and instead found his studs scraping down the shin of his Everton opponent in what looked like a painful one for Onana.

The home crowd erupted in anger, demanding Van Dijk saw red, but Taylor was having none of it and opted to caution the player with a yellow.

Speaking after the game, Everton boss Frank Lampard said that, for him, it was a definite red card.

“I love Virgil van Dijk as a player, he’s fantastic.

“Sometimes you mistime tackles and they look bad or they potentially are bad, if you look at the moment he connects with Amadou (Onana) up on his shin and Amadou’s foot is planted on the ground, then I’m surprised it hasn’t gone to VAR and the referee hasn’t looked at it and made, what I think, is the right decision.

“I haven’t been asked that much about it in the media, it doesn’t matter now, but for me it was a red card and of course that changes the face of the last 20 minutes.”

“I love Van Dijk but it was a red card!”