The Dutch defender was dismissed during the opening period of Sunday’s thrilling Premier League match at St. James’ Park, and he has since been accused of acting improperly and/or using abusive and/or disrespectful language against a match official.
In the 28th minute of a fierce match on Tyneside, Van Dijk was shown a straight red card by referee John Brooks after it was determined that he had fouled Swedish attacker Alexander Isak just outside the penalty area, depriving Newcastle of a clear chance to score.
The verdict was subsequently criticized by him in front of television cameras, and he then appeared to dispute with fourth official Craig Pawson.
It brought to an end a catastrophic few minutes for Liverpool, who had just trailed after Anthony Gordon’s goal and almost had Trent Alexander-Arnold sent off in the opening minutes of the match.
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Virgil van Dijk is in serious water after the FA charged him for his actions at St James’ Park.
As a result of Van Dijk’s dismissal, manager Jurgen Klopp was forced to substitute Luis Diaz for Joe Gomez up front, but the 10-man squad weathered the storm and maintained their lead at 1-0 before gaining momentum after the break and pulling off an incredible comeback victory of 2-1 thanks to a late brace from substitute Darwin Nunez.
Van Dijk has until this coming Friday, September 1, to reply to a claim of FA Rule E3.1 violation. The Reds’ defensive stalwart is now only slated to miss one game, against Aston Villa at Anfield on Sunday, but if the FA punishes him for his enraged post-red card outburst, that suspension might be increased.
Due to an injury that prevented Ibrahima Konate from playing against Newcastle, Joel Matip has replaced Konate as the starting center defender for Liverpool.
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