Van Dijk takes issue with winner

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk felt hampered in the build-up to Bournemouth’s goal in the Reds’ dramatic 3-2 defeat at the Vitality Stadium.

Arne Slott’s men saw their 13-match unbeaten run end as Amine Adly scored in the 95th minute to take the points, racing home at the second attempt after a long throw after being initially blocked by Alisson.

Adly’s decisive goal came after Liverpool erased Bournemouth’s 2-0 lead, which the Cherries had built with two goals within seven minutes in the first half. Evanilson opened the match in the 26th minute followed by a brilliant finish from Alex Jimenez.

Van Dijk, who missed both goals, pulled one back with a header before half-time, and Dominik Szoboszlai’s excellent free-kick restored parity 10 minutes from time.

But Bournemouth finished the match strongly between the two teams and obtained three points that moved them 10 points away from the relegation zone.

Van Dijk: I felt blocked

However, Van Dijk pointed out that Adly’s goal should have been disallowed. The Netherlands international felt he was unfairly blocked as Liverpool failed to deal with James Hill’s long throw, although replays showed he was inadvertently fouled by Curtis Jones as the midfielder tussled with a Bournemouth player.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Van Dijk said: “What I felt on that pitch was that I was fouled, but the referee and VAR didn’t give it away. I could stand here and say it shouldn’t have been awarded, but it was, so it is what it is.”

Van Dijk’s inability to deal with Marcos Sensi’s long ball for the striker led to scoring the first goal for Bournemouth, before Jimenez played inside the field to score the second goal.

Asked about that seven-minute period, Van Dijk added: “The first goal was difficult to judge, the wind was very tough so it was difficult. To concede like that is not a problem but it is not good.

“Conceding two goals in a short period is not good at all. The goal for us in the first half was really important for the momentum in the second half.

“In the end, that shot cost us.”

Time is running out for Liverpool

El Adly’s goal proved to be the final kick of the game, condemning Liverpool to defeat meaning Manchester United, Chelsea and Newcastle United have a chance to leapfrog them in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League with wins on Sunday.

Slott felt that more time should have been added at the end of the match, and he made that point to the officials after it concluded.

“I think we first have to look at ourselves,” Slott told Sky Sports.

“It was more open. Both teams were trying to score a goal. They had better chances than us in the last 10 minutes and then, at the end, there was a long throw-in and they scored.

“For me, four minutes of extra time was not enough but in the end it didn’t matter because they scored. Although we could have had two or three minutes, this match was not supposed to have four extra minutes. There was already a free kick that took two or three minutes, there were VAR moments, there were substitutions. That’s what I told them, those four minutes were not enough.

“We were down to ten men and then they scored their second goal and those were the only few minutes where we had some problems in the last ten minutes. But the result was another loss.”