Virgil van Dijk hero and villain as Liverpool edge bonkers first half with Leeds

ByAlexander Netherton

Updated 12/09/2020 at 17:54 GMT

Leeds went in at half time trailing Liverpool 3-2, with defender Virgil van Dijk at fault for the away side's two goals and scoring one for his own team.

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk was at the heart of a frenetic first half with Leeds United that saw five goals scored.

Jack Harrison first exploited a Van Dijk error to cancel out Mohamed Salah's early penalty, as the new season highlighted just how many players are still out of sorts.

The error marked an unsual lapse in concentration in the player, who had previously made just one error that led directly to a goal in his first 154 Premier League games.

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The Dutch central defender then put his side ahead to make it 2-1.

Van Dijk failed to control the ball at 2-1 up, gifting Patrick Bamford the chance at an equaliser.

Three minutes later Salah was on hand to double his tally for the game, and the season, and put his side back in front.

It was a madcap first half as five goals were scored in the first half of a team's first game of the season, which last happened in 2006 when Manchester United took a 4-1 lead against Fulham.

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