Manchester United legend Roy Keane pinned the blame for Arsenal’s all three goals on Virgil van Dijk in the Gunners’ 3-1 win over Liverpool on January 4.
The north London side secured a big win at the Emirates in the Premier League title race on Sunday. They created multiple chances before opening the scoring in the 14th minute via Bukayo Saka. Martin Odegaard found Kai Havertz in space, whose shot was saved by Alisson Becker. However, it fell to Saka, who gave Arsenal the lead.
Roy Keane slammed Van Djik, who went ahead to close down Odegaard but couldn’t and also left space for Havertz. He said (via Mirror):
“If you’re going to go that high up, you need to make some sort of contact on the ball or make a tackle. He ends up in no-man’s-land, that’s really poor defending from an experienced player, he shouldn’t be making those mistakes, he needs to track back more at the end.”
Liverpool found a goal back in first-half stoppage time as poor defending from William Saliba led to an own goal by Gabriel Magalhaes. However, Arsenal bounced back in the second due to another mistake by Van Dijk.
The Dutchman allowed a long ball to bounce over his head, which was eventually missed by Alisson as well. It fell to Gabriel Martinelli, who put it in an empty net in the 67th minute.
Slamming Van Dijk for the goal, Keane said:
“Fairness to Martinelli, you chase, you make a good ball out of a bad ball. You chase it, you hunt it down and make it awkward. I think defenders are making things overly complicated for themselves. Just head the ball!
“He’s been like that since the start of the game with some of his passing. We like players to be quite laid back, casual, but I don’t switch on! Smell the danger, just head the ball! If in doubt just head it. He’s a big, strong boy, just get it clear!”
Finally, Keane also slammed the Liverpool captain for Arsenal‘s third goal which came in the second minute of stoppage time. Leandro Trossard got the ball and did well to get a shot, which deflected off Van Dijk between Alisson’s legs into the goal.
Keane said:
“I don’t think Trossard could believe it when he was coming down the wing, thinking someone will close him down and they didn’t! He’s almost reluctant to shoot! Look at him, Van Dijk has to smell the danger.
“He’s thinking ‘Am I too good to make a lunge in here?’. Well it’s too little, too late for him by that point because they’ve scored three goals – he’s entitled to have a bad game of course, but to concede three goals in such a big game that’ll cost him.”
Liverpool’s poor performance against Arsenal was capped off by a sending-off for Ibrahima Konate, who received his second yellow card in the 88th minute.
Premier League title race heats up after Arsenal’s big win over Liverpool
The Gunners came into the game, trailing the Reds, who led the Premier League table, by five points. The gap has now been reduced to just two points, with Arsenal taking the second spot.
Meanwhile, Manchester City, who are third, are five points behind Liverpool with two games in hand. They can retain their second place in the standings if they beat Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on Monday, February 5.
Fourth-placed Aston Villa are also in the mix, being level on points with Manchester City. Fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur are a further two points behind.
Arsenal will next travel to the London Stadium to take on West Ham United on Sunday, February 11. Meanwhile, Liverpool will host Burnley at Anfield on Saturday.
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