Following Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with title rivals Manchester City, Virgil Van Dijk and Jarell Quansah spoke in a post-match interview on the result.
After John Stones opened the scoring early on from Kevin De Bruyne’s inventive corner kick technique, the hosts found a way back into the game through Alexis Mac Allister’s penalty.
Levelling the scoring, Anfield had a second wind with Liverpool dominating the second half.
Speaking after the match Van Dijk said: ‘Based on the second half half we should have won it, but obviously they had a shot on the post as well. You can’t deny with their quality that they could have won it. It was so close but it’s a bit bittersweet at the moment.
When asked about Liverpool’s young star Jarell Quansah, Van Dijk revealed: ‘He’s been important. Every challenge that was thrown his way he dealt with. He was outstanding again. The sky is the limit. He just needs to stay humble and keep working hard and keep improving.
I’ve improved a lot but for me it’s just about improving still. I didn’t have the perfect game but I’m striving to be good and to be like this man next to me.’ Quansah added.
‘We didn’t win the game. We didn’t keep a clean sheet. That’s the mentality you’ve got to have if you want to be a top defender which I’m aspiring to be’ the defender continued.
For us the task was to win the game and we had chances in the second half. To come away with a point is not a bad situation so we just have to be positive.
‘The next few weeks we just have to enjoy the ride. If you think back to 12 months ago where we were. Look where we are right now. It’s something we don’t take for granted. Sometimes in life in football these things happen. I want to make sure that we enjoy this as well.’
Liverpool face Sparta Praha at home on Thursday, while Manchester City host Newcastle in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday.
