Newcastle forward Anthony Gordon has apologized to Virgil van Dijk for a reckless challenge on the Liverpool captain that earned a red card, saying he was “trying to create energy” in a wild Premier League game between the teams.
A fired-up Gordon sprinted toward Van Dijk and lunged into the center back with an out-of-control tackle that left a visible scrape down Van Dijk's right calf and the Netherlands international in a heap on the ground with his sock down to his ankle.
Having initially been given a yellow card, Gordon saw the punishment upgraded to a red card following a VAR review. The score was 1-0 to Liverpool at the time and the visitors ran out a 3-2 winner Monday thanks to a goal in the 10th minute of stoppage time by 16-year-old substitute Rio Ngumoha.
Gordon took to Instagram on Tuesday to say sorry for the tackle and that his “intentions were pure.”
“I was just trying to create energy in the game and I mistimed the tackle,” Gordon said. “I also want to apologize to Virgil. I would never intend to tackle somebody like this on purpose. We spoke after and he knows that.”
Van Dijk and Gordon talked to each other while referee Simon Hooper viewed the incident on a pitch-side monitor before awarding a red card.
“I said to him if that’s not a sending-off, I don’t understand football,” Van Dijk said. “Unfortunately, these things happen in football. If he meant it or not, it happened. We move on.”
For Gordon, it was a second red card in six months.
“I'll be back and better, the same as every other setback I've ever faced,” he wrote.
Gordon will be suspended for the next three domestic games.
He has been filling in as Newcastle's striker in the absence of Alexander Isak, who has said he wants to leave the club and isn't training with the main squad at the moment amid reported interest from Liverpool. It meant there was a hostile atmosphere at St. James' Park during Monday's game.
