Liverpool Exclusive: Chris Kavanagh plea made as ‘illegal’ Van Dijk incident missed
Chris Kavanagh failed to “get to grips” with an incident involving Virgil van Dijk which could have proved costly for Fulham against Liverpool, Keith Hackett has said.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that the Liverpool captain was lucky to avoid a punishment after a clash with Sander Berge was completely missed by the officials.
Liverpool were chasing a 3-1 deficit at the time of the incident after Fulham scored three goals in 14 first-half minutes, overturning Liverpool’s early lead which came via an Alexis Mac Allister piledriver.
Mac Allister’s opener was arguably fortunate after Liverpool had already gotten away with a controversial penalty shout, which saw Caoimhin Kelleher wipe Andreas Pereira out but receive no punishment.
Luis Diaz’s second-half strike gave Liverpool hope in a game which saw Ryan Sessegnon, Alex Iwobi and Rodrigo Muniz’s goals seal the win for Fulham, but that consolation came after yet another inflection point.
Virgil van Dijk gets away with Sander Berge controversy
With Fulham leading 3-1 heading into the break, Liverpool threw everything they had at the Cottagers, registering 12 shots in the second period but ultimately failing to overcome Marco Silva’s side.
Diaz came off the bench and combined with fellow substitute Conor Bradley to make it 3-2 in the 72nd minute, but the Colombian’s strike came after Van Dijk completely got away with one at the other end.
| Fulham | Statistic | Liverpool |
| 3 | Goals | 2 |
| 0.75 | xG | 1.11 |
| 6 / 12 | Shots on Target | 6 / 14 |
| 38% | Possession | 62% |
| 4 | Corners | 4 |
At a Fulham corner, Van Dijk clashed with Berge at the near post and appeared to lash out with an elbow towards the Norwegian, catching him in the face in an incident which went both unseen and unpunished.
Hackett took aim at the officials for missing an act of foul play which was immediately followed by Diaz’s strike to give Liverpool hope, and he questioned the impact it could’ve had, had the Reds later equalised.
Referees at fault for ‘Disappointing’ miss after Van Dijk elbow – Keith Hackett
After being asked by Football Insider for his thoughts on a Fulham penalty – or at the very least a review for one – not being given by Chris Kavanagh or VAR official Matt Donohue, the former FIFA referee said:
“Disappointing that the referee didn’t detect the illegal use of the elbow by Virgil van Dijk on Sander Berge – it was just before Liverpool score their second goal”, Hackett told Football Insider.
“Come on guys, you’ve got to get to grips with these incidents and penalise them accordingly, in order for players to play within the laws of the game.”
Van Dijk getting away with a blatant elbow and Diaz scoring from the very next passage of play only added insult to injury for Fulham, but they were eventually able to see out a 3-2 win at Craven Cottage.
Had Liverpool managed to equalise and claim a point late on – and had Van Dijk played a part in it – the immediate reaction and fallout would certainly have left a sour taste in the mouth for Fulham fans.