The “English referee,” who denied the Netherlands’ chance to win Friday’s contentious 0-0 draw with France, has come under fire from Virgil van Dijk.

Despite being hailed as one of the round’s most thrilling matches, Ronald Koeman’s team persevered to escape defeat and nearly guarantee a spot in the knockout stage, making it a low-quality match.
But halfway through the second half, Xavi Simons’ strike from the outskirts of the area gave Netherlands the chance and the right to win it.

In the 69th minute, Liverpool captain van Dijk witnessed teammate Xavi Simons score the winning goal, sending the Dutch squad reeling. Their happiness was short-lived, though, as a linesman for Premier League referee Anthony Taylor raised his flag right away.

Following the contentious ruling out of Xavi Simons’ goal against France, supporters are voicing the same concern.

The Netherlands had nothing but contempt for Anthony Taylor and his associates.

He had seen Denzel Dumfries, the right-back for the Netherlands, standing in an offside position close to Mike Maignan, the custodian for France, who had only half-heartedly attempted to stop Simons’ shot. The decision was immediately referred to a VAR check, which was overseen by fellow English official Stuart Attwell.

It was confirmed that the initial ruling will stand after a two-minute pause. Throughout the procedure, Van Dijk, 32, spoke with Taylor nonstop and appeared frustrated.

The Dutch defender asserted in a post-match interview with Optus Sport that “we scored a goal that is a fair goal” after the match ended goalless in Leipzig, leaving both teams with four points after two games. The English referee chose not to let Maignan into the corner even though he had no chance to do so.

It’s unclear if Van Dijk was speaking of Taylor or Attwell. The choice affected other teams in Group D as well because Poland would not have been mathematically guaranteed to go to the round of 16 if Poland had lost. Poland’s earlier Friday 3-1 loss to Austria in Berlin set up a battle for first place in the group on Tuesday.

Van Dijk’s annoyance was expressed by Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman, who quipped, “If it’s offside, then you don’t need to spend five minutes touching your ear.” I find this incomprehensible. You give a goal if you are this doubtful!

“The goalie was not hampered by the dump fries. Maignan did not react because he could not have reached the ball in the first place; it was not Dumfries’ fault that Maignan did not go for the ball. That ball would never have gotten to him. It’s a legitimate objective. He’s not bothering the goalie once more.

Van Dijk said in a different interview, “From what I have seen, the goal should have been allowed,” to the Dutch defence that thwarted a France without Kylian Mbappe.