'English referee' - Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk fumes after 'fair goal' disallowed

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has made his feelings on the Netherlands’ disallowed goal against France clear.

His side thought that they had taken the lead in the 69th minute through Xavi Simons. The midfielder's strike from the edge of the box settled into the bottom right corner sparking scenes of celebration, but they were cut short when the assistant referee put his flag up.

Denzel Dumfries was in an offside position and was adjudged to have interfered with play as the ball whizzed past him. After a lengthy VAR check conducted by Stuart Attwell, the decision was confirmed by fellow Premier League referee Anthony Taylor with the goal ruled out for an offside offence.

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Speaking to Optus Sport after the game, Van Dijk didn’t hold back on his thoughts on the decision. “We scored a goal that is a fair goal,” he said.

"He (the goalkeeper) had no chance to get into that corner. But yeah, the English referee decided to disallow it."

The game ended in a 0-0 draw with the Netherlands frustrating their opponents, who had Kylian Mbappe on the bench after he suffered a broken nose in Les Bleus’ opener against Austria.

Speaking about the decision on BBC Sport, former Premier League striker Alan Shearer agreed with Van Dijk over the offside decision. “I think France have been very fortunate here,” he said.

“I mean when you see the angle from behind the goal, clearly the goalkeeper because of his body position, because of where his legs are and how wide they are...The goalkeeper cannot dive for that.

“With that body position he’s in right now the goalkeeper cannot dive and he’s not getting to that ball and Dumfries is not affecting him at all.”