Jurgen Klopp delighted with Virgil van Dijk's 'brilliant header' as Liverpool knock Everton out of FA Cup

Klopp questioned whether his side should have been awarded their penalty in the first half

Virgil van Dijk and Jurgen Klopp embrace after the final whistle (Getty Images)

Jurgen Klopp described Virgil van Dijk’s match-winning header as “brilliant” after Liverpool’s record signing climbed highest to score on his debut and knock Everton out of the FA Cup at Anfield.

Liverpool led through James Milner’s penalty, awarded controversially for a challenge by Mason Holgate on Adam Lallana, before Gylfi Sigurdsson equalised in the second half. But Van Dijk scored from a corner to prevent a replay and send his new club into the fourth round.

“It was nice that Virgil van Dijk could score in his first game, a brilliant header,” Klopp said. ”I am really happy. In front of the Kop makes it even better.

“It was not the best piece of football for 95 minutes, but a proper fight. I’m delighted with the attitude we showed again – it was a difficult game. It was not the night for brilliant football. You would love to see that but Everton defended well. They played football, a big difference to the last game between us.”

However, Klopp criticised his side’s defending which led to the equaliser, describing it as ”the worst protection I ever saw in my life. It made no sense at all. We were all in the wrong direction. But when you make mistakes in football you have to react and we did again.”

He added that he did not think the penalty was the correct decision. “It was a similar situation [to the penalty against Liverpool for Everton last month]: the first one was no penalty in my opinion and this one wasn’t also. It’s the same.”