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

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 did manage to fire a shot away from the edge of the penalty area, which 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.

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

Some fans suggested that 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 Pet 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."