Virgil van Dijk spots vital Liverpool trait after 'chaos' at Nottingham Forest
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Liverpool emerged from the City Ground with all three points thanks to an inspired late push; Alexis Mac Allister netted the all-important goal, and Virgil van Dijk was delighted with one element of the Reds' performanceVirgil van Dijk has praised Liverpool's resilience and mentality after its late win at Nottingham Forest(Image: Getty Images)Virgil van Dijk said Sunday’s dramatic win against Nottingham Forest highlighted Liverpool’s resilience and mentality, and praised the Reds for their improved second-half display.The hosts managed 12 shots in the opening 45 minutes at the City Ground, the most Liverpool has conceded in the first half of a Premier League match since 2015. Nottingham ForestA late surge ultimately proved decisive, with Alexis Mac Allister scoring what looked to be a winning goal, which was ruled out for offside, before he then netted in the 97th minute to secure all three points.That is the third time this season Liverpool has won a league game in injury-time, and Van Dijk felt the gritty response underlined the team’s character.“I think the resilience has definitely been questioned at times this season, but I think today, and the last couple of games especially, we have shown a consistency in everything we do, apart from the first half today,” the Liverpool captain told reporters after the game.
“But like I say, football is not 45 minutes, it is 90-plus minutes, and that showed today.”Van Dijk was frustrated with Liverpool's first-half performance(Image: Getty Images)Asked if the nature of Liverpool’s win speaks to the side’s mentality, Van Dijk replied: “I fully agree with that because when the goal is disallowed, the momentum shifts and the [Forest] fans are fully behind it, they may believe this is the opportunity to bounce back after a little bit of disappointment they had.“But I think we did well, we created the chaos with the throw-ins we had, and we managed to score the winner.”On Liverpool’s performance, Van Dijk added: “We were very poor in the first half. I think we were much more comfortable on the ball and made the right decisions with and without the ball.Mac Allister scored a dramatic winner at the City Ground(Image: Getty Images)“We won the ball a lot higher up the pitch and defending in our box was very good today, in my opinion, but we were a little on the lucky side today with the goal at the end, but that is football as well.“I think it is a collective thing that changed it, everyone was much better in the second half, I think.
No one was at their best standard in the first half.”Rio Ngumoha’s introduction off the bench certainly helped change Liverpool’s fortunes. The teenager came on with 12 minutes of normal time, and provided the cross which resulted in Mac Allister’s disallowed goal.“He is very direct, obviously he goes past players and has a lot to learn, but he had a good impact today, but it's on to the next one for him, nothing more, nothing less,” said Van Dijk, when asked about the youngster’s impact.