VIRGIL VAN DIJK put in a performance for the ages to hand Liverpool their 10th Carabao Cup win.
Van Dijk nodded home an extra-time winner to seal a 1-0 win, earning him the Man of the Match in SunSport’s Liverpool player ratings.
It was Liverpool’s 10th League Cup win overall and the first of Jurgen Klopp’s farewell tour after he announced he would be leaving the club at the end of the season.
Van Dijk was handed the armband by the German for the final, and the Dutchman said he was incredibly proud to win his first trophy as captain.
The Dutchman has always been a vocal defender.
But his performance at Wembley also depicted a player who wanted to lead by example.
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And that is what he did, putting in an imperious display of the highest order.
With that display a host of impressive records and numbers came with it.
Van Dijk is now just the third player behind John Terry and Vincent Kompany to win the Man of the Match award in multiple League Cup finals, doing so in 2022 and now 2024.
Looking at his numbers, Van Dijk couldn’t have done much more.
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Van Dijk put three tackles, won seven duels and made two interceptions.
His on ball exploits were not bad either.
The 32-year-old touched the ball 120 times.
He passed the ball a total of 101 times, with 92 of his passes being accurate, including three accurate long balls.
Van Dijk even got involved in the creative aspects of the game by registering two key passes.
The former Southampton and Celtic star was also lethal in front of goal, scoring from his only shot on target.
Though he did have the ball in the net in normal time, only for that goal to be ruled out for offside on Wataru Endo after the midfielder was deemed to have blocked off Levi Colwill.
Reacting to Van Dijk’s performance on X, formerly known as Twitter, one fan said: “Virgil Van Djik. Legacy moment. Respect where it’s due.
“You just witnessed a club built on spirit, principles and worth versus a club that’s been rebuilt on just money and hope.”
A second said: “Virgil van Dijk was beyond incredible today, by the way.
“Cannot downplay just how imperious he was, and so fitting for him to score the winner. One of the best centre-backs to ever play the game.”
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Another said: “Liverpool were the dominant team in extra-time even with kids all over the park. Why? Virgil Van Dijk.”
His Motm display also handed him the illustrious record of having been the star man in three finals for Liverpool, with his two League Cup performances adding to his 2019 Champions League final game.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
