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One-on-One Battle Between Erling Haaland and Virgil van Dijk Was "Cinematic"... but Who Won?

Virgil van Dijk and Erling Haaland served up a mesmerizing one-on-one moment during Sunday's Premier League clash between Liverpool and Manchester City.

Robert Summerscales

One-on-One Battle Between Erling Haaland and Virgil van Dijk Was "Cinematic"... but Who Won?
One-on-One Battle Between Erling Haaland and Virgil van Dijk Was "Cinematic"... but Who Won? /

Virgil van Dijk and Erling Haaland served up a mesmerizing moment late in the first half of Sunday's 1-1 draw between Liverpool and Manchester City.

It occurred in the 39th minute as City launched a counter-attack.

When Haaland collected a pass from Kevin De Bruyne inside his own half, Van Dijk was the only outfield player between the City striker and Liverpool's goal.

Van Dijk was positioned on the halfway line at this point, 10 yards in front of Haaland, who decided to run at the Dutch defender.

Liverpool captain Van Dijk is famously hard to dribble past but Haaland gave it his best try.

Van Dijk was standing side-on to start with but he was then forced to sprint directly back towards his own goal to keep up with Haaland.

Haaland was unable to get clear of Van Dijk but he managed to fire a shot away from the edge of the penalty area.

This was Haaland's only shot of the game and it was comfortably saved by Reds keeper Caoimhin Kelleher.

Although this 10-second burst of action did not result in a goal, it left fans, journalists and former players all tingling with excitement.

Erling Haaland pictured (right) running at Virgil van Dijk one-on-one during a Premier League game between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield in March 2024
Erling Haaland pictured (right) running at Virgil van Dijk one-on-one during Sunday's Premier League game between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield / Sky Sports Premier League

There was plenty of debate on X.com about which player had won this mini-battle.

Some fans suggested that the outcome proved that Van Dijk was the best center-back in the world.

However, others claimed that Haaland had "cooked" the Dutchman.

Meanwhile, The Athletic journalist Liam Twomey tweeted: "Haaland against Van Dijk 1v1 is the most cinematic thing I've seen on a football pitch in a while".

Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin said on BBC Radio 5 Live: "Wasn't there just a lovely moment there when you saw two of the best in the business one on one, man on man.

"In the end van Dijk just did enough to slow Erling Haaland down a bit and he ran out of legs in the end. Never got enough power on the shot but he did get the shot away."

Ex-Liverpool captain Jamie Carragher was impressed by both players and said on Sky Sports: "I'd say that was a draw."

Both Haaland and Van Dijk played the full 90 minutes on Sunday.

Haaland only had 22 touches of the ball - 70 fewer than Van Dijk, who made four tackles, four interceptions and two clearances.

Van Dijk conceded one free-kick - for a foul on Phil Foden in the 89th minute.

Haaland played just 15 passes - the fewest of any starting player on either side. But no player made more key passes than Haaland (three).

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Robert Summerscales
ROBERT SUMMERSCALES

Robert Summerscales launched FanNation Futbol in February 2022. Rob is a British journalist who previously spent two years on the sports desk at the Daily Mail in London, having earlier served as editor of CaughtOffside.com. He has been to the last two FIFA Men's World Cups, in Russia and Qatar, and is looking forward to completing his hat-trick in North America in 2026.