Xavi Simons' Tottenham apology after Virgil van Dijk red card tackle

Xavi Simons has issued an apology to Virgil van Dijk, Tottenham teammates and fans after his red card in the 2-1 defeat to Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Tottenham Hotspur's midfielder, Xavi Simons, has extended an apology following his direct red card in the match against Liverpool. The Dutch player was dismissed early after stepping on Virgil van Dijk's Achilles with his studs, even ripping the defender's sock.

The incident initially went unnoticed by the referee, but a VAR review led to Simons receiving a red card. At that point, the score was still 0-0, and the dismissal made the task all the more difficult for Thomas Frank's team.

Spurs eventually suffered a 2-1 defeat, a match which also saw Cristian Romero sent off. Fully acknowledging his mistake, Simons apologised to everyone at Tottenham and to Van Dijk personally.

He expressed his regret on social media, stating: "Mistakes happen. Virg is my captain. I would never intentionally hurt him or anyone. To my Spurs teammates, my manager and the fans, I take responsibility, I'm really sorry."

Since his high-profile transfer from RB Leipzig, Simons has had a patchy performance record. He did manage to score a goal and provide an assist in the recent 2-0 victory over Bournemouth at home, leading many to believe he was finding his stride.

However, this incident marks a setback for the Dutch international, who will now face a three-match suspension. On a brighter note for Simons, Frank does not agree that his challenge merited a straight red card.

Frank commented: "I don't like this [Xavi challenge] as a red card. I think the game is probably too big to say gone, but for me it's not reckless and it's not exceptional force.

"He is chasing Van Dijk. He is trying to put pressure and then he changes direction. Unfortunately his foot is on Achilles.

"You can say 'ah, you need to be smarter, don't do it and all that' but so are we not allowed to have physical contact anymore?

"The next thing on that is if he gets three games, which I don't understand, how can he get three games for something which is not reckless? That is absolutely wrong and we probably can't appeal it."

Alexander Isak broke the deadlock after the interval before Hugo Ekitike added a second for the Reds. Richarlison emerged from the substitutes' bench to pull one back, but the Brazilian's efforts were rendered futile when skipper Cristian Romero saw red for a second bookable offence in the 93rd minute.

The outcome intensifies the scrutiny on Frank. Spurs found themselves languishing in 13th place following that setback, sitting seven points adrift of the Champions League spots.

In contrast, Liverpool boss Arne Slot expressed satisfaction with his team's display in north London. Acknowledging that Simons' dismissal complicated matters, Slot remarked: "I thought it would mean that it was a little bit easier, but in reality it wasn't.

"I thought to be honest with nine, we will probably be able then to keep them away from our goal.

"But it looked as if we were down to nine and they were on 11 because it was attack after attack after attack, but it didn't lead to a goal."