"Unreal sh**housery" "Cheating prick" - Liverpool superstar gets called a 'scumbag' for what he did against West Ham United 

Fans have slammed Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk for the poor sportsmanship he showed before a penalty for West Ham in their Premier League encounter.

The Reds dominated the first half as Darwin Nunez scored his first goal for his new team at Anfield as he headed home from Kostas Tsmikas's accurate cross. But despite the hosts' domination, they looked to be heading into the break levek as Joe Gomez caught Jarrod Bowen in the back.

Referee Stuart Attwell originally waved away the appeal, but VAR advised him to award the spot-kick. Bowen stepped up to take it for the Hammers, with deafening boos sweeping through a blustery Anfield.

Liverpool tried every trick in the book to put the forward off, with Thiago Alcantara delaying proceedings before Van Dijk was spotted scuffing the penalty spot. Bowen took a weak spot-kick which Alisson parried away to safety as Jurgen Klopp's side went into half-time with a lead.

While supporters praised the Brazilian goalkeeper for his stop, many commented on Van Dijk's antics before the penalty kick.

Twitter users spotted the Dutch international's and were quick to condemn him for the supposed wreckage on the spot:

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Pundit believes Jarrod Bowen 'couldn't cope with' Liverpool crowd

While on commentary duty for BBC Sport, Pat Nevin claimed that Bowen was unable to cope with a hostile Liverpool crowd who did everything in their power to put the England international off.

The former Scotland and Chelsea winger stated after the miss:

"Bowen couldn't cope with the pressure from the Anfield crowd and the Liverpool players. Not a great penalty but it was a great save. Bowen's penalty has not got great pace on it and it's at a lovely height for the keeper."

Nevin also went on to praise the Reds' performance, claiming that it would have been incredibly unfair if West Ham had leveled before the interval.

The pundit further added:

"West Ham got the penalty kick so they know they can create chances. Then they got a chance from the corner kick as well. It would have been grotesquely unfair if Liverpool had been level at half -time because they played really well there."

He concluded:

"Nunez caught the eye with a goal and the two chances that he had. Salah looks good but Firmino... I would pay to watch that every week. He was superb."