Hincapie Responds to Van Dijk After Arsenal’s Liverpool Win

Arsenal returned to the Premier League summit with a 1-0 win over Liverpool on Sunday, but the fallout continued after Piero Hincapié used social media to answer an earlier message from Virgil van Dijk.

Arsenal regain top spot at Liverpool’s expense

Kai Havertz scored the only goal as Arsenal, the reigning champions, secured a significant away victory and moved back to first place in the table.

The result left Arsenal nine points ahead of fifth-placed Liverpool as they pursue a second successive Premier League title. Liverpool were left frustrated by a major decision during the match, when an appeal for a penalty was rejected after Alexander Isak’s shirt appeared to be pulled by Arsenal defender Jurriën Timber.

• Kai Havertz scored the decisive goal.
• Arsenal won 1-0 and returned to the top of the Premier League.
• Liverpool are fifth, nine points behind Arsenal.
• The disputed incident involved Alexander Isak and Jurriën Timber.

Hincapié responds to Van Dijk’s earlier post

After the final whistle, Hincapié posted a close-up image of the gold Premier League champions badge on his Arsenal sleeve, adding the caption: “I don’t forget.”

The message appeared to refer to Van Dijk’s own post from January, when Liverpool drew 0-0 with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. On that occasion, the Liverpool captain had shared a similar image displaying the champions emblem on his shirt.

Hincapié’s post underlined Arsenal’s current position as title holders and their advantage over Liverpool following Sunday’s result.

Liverpool anger over Isak penalty appeal

Van Dijk and Andoni Iraola both criticised the failure to award Liverpool a penalty for the Timber-Isak incident. Van Dijk questioned why Isak would need to make a more obvious appeal in an era of extensive video coverage.

“Why does he have to complain when there are so many cameras?” Van Dijk said.

Iraola suggested players may need to react more dramatically to contact if they want referees to intervene. “Next time, the managers should tell Alex to go to the floor, otherwise they won’t call it,” he said.

European fixtures next for both clubs

The Premier League rivals now move into Champions League action. Arsenal will travel to face Slavia Prague, while Liverpool have an away match against Fenerbahce.