‘DIRE from Dier’: Gary Lineker leads criticism of Tottenham defender after his misplaced header leads to Mohamed Salah’s second goal… with Gary Neville critical of England …

Eric Dier has been panned by some footballing heavyweights after his erroneous backwards header gifted Mo Salah his second goal in Liverpool’s match at Tottenham. 

In the 40th minute, a great long ball by Alisson was headed by Dier. If it was aimed to go back to the Spurs keeper, it fell significantly short of the intended target, and the Egyptian striker ran with the ball into the box before smashing it over Hugo Lloris into the net for his second of the match. 

The result finished 2-1 in favour of the Reds, as Harry Kane’s goal 20 minutes from time was not enough to save a point for Antonio Conte’s side.  

Eric Dier made a costly headed mistake in Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 home defeat to Liverpool

Gary Lineker was among those criticising Dier’s misplaced header which gifted the Reds a goal

Reaction to the 28-year-old Dier’s mistake was quick, and it did not reflect well on the England defender, with Gary Lineker echoing a lot of fan reaction when he tweeted ‘Dire from Dier’. 

One Spurs fan wrote: ‘That is criminal from Eric Dier…’, while another said: ‘Eric Dier is a social experiment to see how much we can take as fans’. 

A third added: ‘Eric Dier has played 4 positions and is the worst player in our squad in each of them. Move this guy on. Send him to the Championship.’ 

Tottenham fans on Twitter hit out at Dier for his mistake, which ultimately cost them the game

Meanwhile, speaking to Sky Sports at half-time, Graeme Souness questioned the defender’s play – while also praising Salah for his placement and run with the ball. 

Souness said: ‘What is Dier doing here? He heads it onto his shoulder, Salah has read it. 

‘The goal looks simple, the focus will be on Dier, but his [Salah’s] touch is great, he is doing it while sprinting and makes it look so easy and natural. We will focus on Dier’s poor header, but it’s all about Salah for me.’ 

Meanwhile, Gary Neville said: ‘It was a bit of a gift. It was never on for Dier.’

Graeme Souness praised Mo Salah for his reactions and the run to make the 40th minute goal

Dier, right, tried to track back, but was unable to stop Salah from smashing it into the net

Dier has a wealth of experience, playing over 300 games for Spurs since 2014, but that mistake led to Tottenham’s defeat, and left them fourth in the Premier League table a point behind Newcastle United. 

After the match, Kane said: ‘We haven’t played well enough first half and we got punished. It was tight and they got their goal, and the mistake has hurt us in a big game. 

‘It is what it is, we perform until the end, we knew we would have chances, but we couldn’t get the second. We know we can definitely play better.’  

Following on from the Liverpool defeat, Spurs face a League Cup trip to Nottingham Forest on Wednesday before hosting Leeds United in their final Premier League game before the World Cup.