It was easy to get away from Thomas Partey to score against Arsenal - Virgil van Dijk
van Dijk has opened up on how he was able to go past Partey to score in their thrilling 2-2 draw
Liverpool's captain, Virgil van Dijk, discussed his goal-scoring moment against Arsenal in their exciting 2-2 draw, highlighting how he managed to get past Thomas Partey.
Read full articleThe match began with Arsenal taking an early lead when Bukayo Saka scored in the ninth minute after skillfully maneuvering around Andrew Robertson. Liverpool equalized shortly after, with van Dijk capitalizing on a flicked header from Luis Diaz during a corner kick.
Arsenal regained the lead through Mikel Merino's first goal for the club, but Mohamed Salah equalized in the 81st minute with an assist from Darwin Nunez.
In his post-match comments, van Dijk suggested that Partey lost focus while marking him, which allowed him to break free. He noted that Partey seemed more concerned with watching him than tracking the ball.
“I think they’re very solid in set pieces and they have shown it. I think obviously when I was marked by Partey, I think he only looked at me, so it was quite easy to get away from him," he remarked.
He acknowledged the role of luck in his goal, thanks to a flick from Diaz. Despite this, Partey had a strong performance, being the highest-rated defender for Arsenal, winning four out of five aerial duels and nine out of 16 ground duels, while also completing 39 of 45 passes for an 87% success rate.
