Football Digest: Liverpool start the season strong
Virgil van Dijk’s daughter crashed LFCTV’s broadcast after Liverpool’s 3-0 victory over Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday. Dominik Szoboszlai opened up the scoring with his first goal for the club in the opening three minutes before Matty Cash doubled Liverpool’s lead as he poked a rebound into his own net.
Mohamed Salah then put the game to bed early in the second half as he slotted the ball away at the back post after Darwin Nunez guided his header across the face of the goal. A centre-back pairing of Joel Matip and Joe Gomez saw out the game as Liverpool recorded their first clean sheet of the season despite being without their starting centre-halves Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate.
Konate remains sidelined by a hamstring injury while Van Dijk was suspended after picking up a red card against Newcastle last weekend. While he warmed down on the Anfield pitch with the rest of the substitutes and reserves his seven-year-old daughter, Jadi, and Joe Gomez’s young son, Kayri, invaded LFCTV, who were reviewing the game on the side of the pitch.
Former Liverpool goalkeeper David James, who was working for the channel, attempted to get the youngsters involved by asking what they thought of the game. Meanwhile, pundit Ronnie Whelan appeared to forget that Van Dijk hadn’t played when he asked “Did your daddy play well?”
As the camera panned over to the pitch, Van Dijk could be seen laughing as presenter Mark Benstead joked: “I don’t know about the FA increasing his ban for the sending-off and reaction at St James’ Park but poor control of children, that’s a ban in my book,” in reference to recent reports suggesting the FA may be considering an increased ban after charing Van Dijk with “improper conduct”.
The Dutchman landed in hot water for shouting at referee John Brooks and his fourth official as he protested the decision to send him off at St James’ Park. Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was even forced to intervene by gently pushing his skipper down the tunnel in order to prevent him from getting into further trouble.
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This comes after the FA rolled out a new set of rules at the start of the season to help clamp down on aggressive behaviour towards officials. A new ‘Participant Charter’ empowers match officials to take tougher action against unacceptable behaviour, while the FA is expected to back up decisions with further disciplinary penalties including bans and fines.
Explaining the FA’s decision to bring in harsher sanctions, FA chief executive Mark Bullingham, said: “Football has the power to unite and inspire all those that play and watch the game. However, sometimes, this can be negatively impacted by a small minority of players, coaches and fans.
“Our collective approach is to reset this behaviour on the pitch and from the sidelines, whilst giving our referees the respect and protection that they deserve.
“We are also determined to address the rise in unacceptable behaviour from the stands. Incidents such as dangerous conduct, discrimination, and chanting about football-related tragedies have no place in our game – and can lead to football bans and potential criminal action.
“Passion, emotion and excitement are fundamental to football, however, this must be shown in the right way. Everyone can play their part so that together we can create a safe and enjoyable environment for all.”
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