Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk questioned the referee’s choice to not give him a second yellow card. Before the 18-year-old Lucas Bergvall of Tottenham Hotspur scored the game-winning goal in the Carabao Cup semifinal between the two teams.
Stuart Attwell had earlier booked Attwell Bergvall for a foul on Luis Díaz, he played advantage after another late tackle from the Swede on Kostas Tsimikas.

Tsimikas was off the field getting treatment when Attwell did not stop play to give Bergvall a yellow card as Liverpool’s attack waned. A few minutes later, the teenager stole the ball from Alisson thanks to some excellent work from Dominic Solanke.
After the match, Van Dijk told Sky Sports, “It was quite obvious that there was going to be a second yellow.

“It seemed quite obvious, and he scores the winning goal a minute later. It’s what it is, listen. I told the referee that I thought he had made a mistake. He believes that he didn’t. Everyone on the sidelines was aware of it, and it was pretty clear: “There’s a linesman there, a fourth official, VAR… and he doesn’t get a second yellow.” It was an important moment in the game, but I’m not claiming that this is why we lost.

The Netherlands legend did add that Liverpool will travel to Anfield to play the second leg with a deficit for reasons other than Attwell’s call.
“We played against an intense team with good attacking players who keep running and make it difficult,” stated the player. “We created opportunities — not really clear-cut chances in my opinion, but enough that we could have scored. “There were occasions when we could have performed better. It is an aspect of football. Although they were able to defend considerably better than when we were here a few weeks ago, we occasionally played through them nicely.”

Arne Slot echoed Van Dijk’s comments, saying: “The decision he [the referee] made had a lot of impact on the result tonight.”

The return leg at Anfield is set for February 6. On Saturday, Liverpool will face League Two team Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup third round, while Spurs will face National League side Tamworth.