‘Look at him’: Commentator spotted what Van Dijk did just seconds before Bowen missed West Ham’s penalty

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Virgil van Dijk was spotted trying to influence West Ham’s penalty tonight. The Liverpool star wasn’t going to let it be easy.

Liverpool played an excellent first half against West Ham United tonight – but nearly threw it away. The Reds conceded a late penalty after a very clumsy challenge by Joe Gomez.

That gave West Ham a chance to cancel out Darwin Nunez’s excellent opener. Up stepped Jarrod Bowen, only for Alisson to save the day by diving to the Hammer’s left.

But perhaps Alisson wasn’t the only one hurting West Ham here. Virgil van Dijk had a small say in the outcome as he was spotted scuffing the penalty spot immediately before Bowen stepped up.

“Look at Van Dijk, is he scuffing up the penalty spot there before the kick?” the commentator asked Ally McCoist on Amazon’s coverage.

“It looked like he was,” replied the Scot.

Virgil van Dijk for West Ham’s penalty

It’s one of those where you’re infuriated with the cheek of it when it’s against you. In your favour? Simply smart play from Van Dijk, who made sure the penalty wouldn’t be routine.

We are a little biased here, admittedly.

In truth, scuffing the spot like that doesn’t do all that much. The only reason it wasn’t a mess was because West Ham hadn’t reached Liverpool’s penalty area much at all. In fact, the penalty was their first effort on goal.

And the only way it was going to have a drastic effect is if Van Dijk took chunks out of the spot. He didn’t do that – he just made things a little less ideal for Bowen.

At the end of the day, Bowen caught the penalty decently enough and it was just a good save by Alisson. Van Dijk did help a little – but we’ll happily call that smart, rather than sinister.