Virgil van Dijk apologises for error that led to Martinelli's goal
Expressing regret, Van Dijk openly apologized for his role in the crucial 67th-minute miscommunication with Alisson, who appeared to bear more blame at first glance. Taking full responsibility, Van Dijk admitted, "That is a significant moment in the game. I should have made a better decision. It hurts for me. The turning point is my responsibility; I should have tried to clear [the ball]. While these occurrences are rare in my career, I will recover from this."
Despite the setback, Jürgen Klopp, witnessing his Liverpool side suffer only their second league defeat of the season, stood by the two players involved. Klopp emphasized their humanity, stating, "It just shows they're human beings, and that makes the things they usually do even more special." He conceded that Arsenal deserved the three points, acknowledging their superior performance. Klopp concluded, "On the whole, for the entire 90 minutes, we weren't good enough."