Virgil van Dijk accuses Harry Kane of diving in 2-2 draw

Virgil van Dijk has hit out at Harry Kane, accusing the Tottenham striker of diving to win a penalty as Liverpool and Tottenham played out a 2-2 draw.

As reported by Daily Mirror, Tottenham are embroiled in a cheating controversy after they were rewarded with two contentious penalty decisions in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Liverpool. The Reds defender Virgil van Dijk has accused Harry Kane of diving to win his side’s first penalty as Spurs came from behind to salvage a stalemate.

The 2-2 draw between two sides that were battling for a top four spot was truly pulsating as Tottenham set about scripting a comeback in the final ten minutes of the match, having gone down in the third minute through Mohamed Salah’s close range strike.

Spurs first pulled one back in the 80th minute through Victor Wanyama, who struck a breathtaking long-range strike to score past Liverpool number one Loris Karius. But, that is when things started to unravel.

Shortly after Wanyama’s goal, Kane was appeared to have been brought down by Karius inside the Liverpool box, with Jon Moss awarding Tottenham a penalty. The incident had already been a contentious one, with many claiming that the English international should have been ruled offside.

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has angrily accused #thfc pair Erik Lamela and Harry Kane of cheating. pic.twitter.com/ZDIQ7XzySW

— Hotspur Related (@HotspurRelated) February 4, 2018

Upon closer inspection on the incident, it appears as if there was just the faintest of touches, if any on Kane, and that the striker went down too easily. But, Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk has gone so far as to claim that the England hitman dived to win an unfair penalty.

“I think it is a dive. You see him (Kane) diving clearly and no one is talking about it but I think it is a dive. There is a lot of discussion about whether it is offside, yes or no, but I think it was offside as well. I thought it was a given you could just see him making that dive.”

Whether it was a dive or not is still unclear, although it is fairly obvious that Kane did go down easily. But, the resulting penalty was ultimately saved by Karius, and not much harm was done to Liverpool by the decision, though Kane could get retrospective action if it is deemed that he had indeed dived.

Kane finally did get his 100th Premier League goal, coincidentally from the spot, after van Dijk was adjudged to have brought Erik Lamela down in the Liverpool box. The Dutch defender seemed to be incensed about the aforementioned decision as well, claiming that it was an unfair penalty.

In the end, a mouthwatering contest will be remembered for all the wrong reasons, even though it featured two absolutely world class goals from Wanyama and Salah. It also remains to be seen if Kane gets reprimanded for the “alleged” dive, ahead of Tottenham’s North London derby against Arsenal this weekend.