VIRGIL VAN DIJK was accused of “absolute s***housery” and labelled a ‘”scumbag” for scuffing the penalty spot as Jarrod Bowen fluffed his kick for West Ham at Liverpool.
Fans blasted defender VVD as “unsportsmanlike” after Alisson saved Bowen‘s tame spot-kick.
Many believed Van Dijk sneakily raked the spot with his boot as Liverpool battled to hold onto a 1-0 lead earned through Darwin Nunez’s header.
One observer posted: “Should be a 3-match ban minimum, what is that sort of thing teaching the kids? But the @fa will ignore it whilst bumping out their fair play campaigns.”
Some armchair viewers claimed VVD’s discreet dig made no difference to Bowen’s poor penalty – a keeper-friendly effort slotted waist-high to Alisson’s right.
But the Dutchman still came under fire – dubbed a “cheat” by a few.
One said: “He does it all the time idk how nobody has caught on.”
Many fans, however, insisted it’s only the team on the end of such dark arts who complain.
One supporter tweeted: “You’d love it if a West Ham player did that and the other team missed a penalty.”
Others argued Van Dijk hadn’t actually roughed up the spot as he only skimmed it with a brief touch.
Those views included: “He literally stepped on it that’s all, the pitch is solid, a heel is gonna do nothing.”
And many fans pointed out Bowen’s spot-kick looked predictable – and was probably not affected by VVD’s intevention.
These posts typified that verdict: “Didn’t change anything” and: “Lol.. Watching the replay front on of Bowen’s pen a keeper in u12s would have guessed which way. A gold plated spot wouldn’t have helped Bowen.”
But this opinion spoke for many in the middle in the middle of the debate: Not that it really made any difference but these are things VAR should go back on.”
