Virgil van Dijk was left to rue a shocking missed opportunity from striker Darwin Nunez as Liverpool were held to a 2-2 draw at Villa Park this evening
Virgil van Dijk conceded Liverpool let Aston Villa off easy as their valiant second-half comeback fell just short. The Reds’ captain pointed out Darwin Nunez’s unbelievable howler from six yards as he mused on a hard-earned point from a lively encounter at Villa Park.
Nunez somehow managed to loft the ball over with the wide open goal, sparking reminders of Ronnie Rosenthal’s infamous blunder in the same matchup over 30 years ago, when he struck the bar.
Liverpool snagged an early advantage when Mo Salah broke the ice around the half-hour mark, but Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins flipped the script before the break, putting Unai Emery’s team ahead.
A deflected shot from Trent Alexander-Arnold evened it up, yet Nunez’s hit-and-miss finishing was apparent as the away side sought the win.
Van Dijk remarked: “We are a bit disappointed but we fight. We had chances to win the game, took a bit of a risk at the end – so it got more open at times.
“In possession we did quite well, created good opportunities to score the second. Disappointing to concede from a set-piece. We tried everything and unfortunately it wasn’t enough for three points
“We should have scored 3-2, but credit to Aston Villa, they made it very difficult. We have a very tough one on the weekend again, then we play Newcastle, our focus now will be on Man City, a very difficult game, we know that.
“We have done everything in our power to win games – and the focus will be that on Sunday.”
Aston Villa’s striker Watkins shared that his manager Unai Emery would be satisfied with a draw against a team he has yet to defeat since taking over at Villa Park, reports the Mirror. He commented: “It was a tough game. They are at the top of the league for a reason. We have a strong record here and always make it hard for teams. Even though we went behind we reacted well and could have nicked it at the end.
“Unai Emery is really demanding of us and we haven’t been performing as well of late so he will be happy with that.”
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