Everton man Van Dijk blames for Merseyside derby brawl responds with ‘passion’ message
Abdoulaye Doucoure is completely unbothered by the red card he received after Everton’s 2-2 draw against Liverpool and was still fired up when he took to social media on Wednesday night.
The French midfielder incited scenes that nobody (everybody) wants to see after the full-time whistle in the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.
Everton went ahead in the 11th minute through Beto but Alexis Mac Allister responded with an outstanding header five minutes later.
Mohamed Salah put Liverpool 2-1 up with 17 minutes remaining but deep into stoppage time, James Tarkowski popped up with a thunderous volley to equalise.
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It was a fantastic match and the last Merseyside derby at Goodison Park before the Toffees move into a new stadium for the 2025/26 campaign.
The drama did not end at Michael Oliver’s final whistle though, with Doucoure sprinting over to taunt the Liverpool supporters, which Curtis Jones took exception to.
Doucoure and Jones were shown red cards by Oliver, who had an incredibly difficult (and shocking) night.
As well as the two players, Reds head coach Arne Slot was given a red card when he aggressively shook Oliver’s hand and let him know how he felt.
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Doucoure did not care one bit that he had been sent off on the pitch after the match, getting into it with Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, who was not impressed by the Frenchman’s actions.
Doucoure was clearly still fired up later on Wednesday evening, posting on social media: “PASSION, DETERMINATION, DESIRE – GOODISON PARK.”
His post came after comments from Van Dijk, who blamed Doucoure for the chaotic scenes after the full-time whistle.
“We saw how they celebrated the goal, they have all the right to,” Reds captain Van Dijk told TNT Sports.
“I think Abdoulaye Doucoure wanted to provoke our fans, I think that is what I saw and Curtis Jones didn’t think it was the right thing to do. And then you know what happens if there is a little tussle.
“I didn’t think the referee had the game under control. Both teams had to deal with it. This was their cup final.
“I think the referee had a big part in the game, in terms of certain challenges were given as fouls and similar weren’t.”
Van Dijk later added: “It was a very big provocation from one certain player. We all saw it and reacted as a team as we were able to do.
“You know what happens nowadays, it becomes one big tussle. Then it is not me who has to deal with it, it is the referee and today I am not sure he had it fully under control.”
He continued: “To concede an equaliser that late is always disappointing.
“We saw the celebrations they had in the end so we know how much it meant for them but the fact is it was disappointing for us. We kept fighting but in the end it wasn’t enough to get it over the line.”
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