It was an incredibly tense moment.
Liverpool went on the attack against Tottenham at Anfield late on trying to grab a winner after Lucas Moura had equalised Roberto Firmino's early opener.
However, the Reds floundered and the visitors quickly strung together a couple of passes to launch themselves into a threatening counter attack.
The Anfield faithful and Reds fans around the world waited nervously as Moussa Sissoko burst clear and bore down on goal with the in-form Heung-Min Son to his right.
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It was a two-on-one situation and Mauricio Pochettino's side looked to have the upper hand - but they had Virgil van Dijk to beat.
The Dutchman, as he has done on more occasions than you could possibly mention so far for Liverpool, stood firm.
The commanding centre-back quickly realised that Sissoko didn't fancy it and was desperate to make a return pass to Son so stood his ground and blocked off the passage to make the Frenchman take on the chance himself.
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It was the perfect example of textbook defending and understanding who you are up against - in this case realising that Son had a better chance of scoring.
Van Dijk jockeyed Sissoko to the edge of the area and before long closed in on the man in possession leaving the eventual shot to be skewed horribly over the bar.
After the match Sky Sports pundit and Manchester United legend Gary Neville explained why every young defender should be watching Liverpool's incredible centre-back.
The former defender said: "Young defenders, you must watch Virgil van Dijk.
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"He picks the lesser of two evils. Sissoko can have it on his left foot, not letting him pass to Son.
"He can’t win it, you have a choice: which of these do I want to have the shot? It’s Sissoko. Really good defending".
That miss was testament to the defensive nous of the commanding Van Dijk , who had been left outnumbered and his high-stakes gamble paid off .
There will not be a more intelligent, composed piece of defending seen in the top flight this season.
