'He knows it' - Virgil van Dijk makes stark admission about Ibrahima Konate incident in dramatic Merseyside derby as Everton are left to fume

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk admitted Reds team-mate Ibrahima Konate was fortunate not to get sent off in the Merseyside derby against Everton.

WHAT HAPPENED? Konate escaped a second yellow card in Liverpool's win over their neighbours at Anfield for a foul on Everton striker Beto — the Frenchman had already been booked for a similar offence. The decision not to send off the defender left Everton manager Sean Dyche fuming, and Van Dijk feels the Reds were fortunate.

WHAT THEY SAID: "A bit of luck? Definitely. What can I say? He could have given it, he didn't give it. A bit of luck for us. So what can I say? Nothing else. I think with tackles and stuff, that’s for the referees to judge," he told reporters. «Especially the second I noticed that when there is a decision, we wanted to stay away from the referee and to make sure we don’t get yellow cards for shouting or saying ‘ref yellow for this’. That’s something we have influence on and that’s a bit like something we should stay away from. We did that very well, especially with the circumstances. Like I spoke about before, we were lucky not to concede a second yellow with Ibou, he knows it but we move on.»

THE BIGGER PICTURE: With Everton already down to 10 players after Ashley Young had been sent off in the first half, Liverpool eventually won the derby 2-0 thanks to two late Mohamed Salah goals — one a 75th minute penalty and the other deep into stoppage time.

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WHAT NEXT FOR LIVERPOOL? The Reds are quickly back in action on Thursday night when their Europa League group stage resumes against Toulouse at Anfield.