I don’t understand why Everton supporters claim the referee cheated them during the Merseyside Derby on Saturday.
Konate should have received a second yellow card, and that was the lone decision that went against Everton. The referee erred there, but don’t forget that he also erred badly when he awarded us a penalty. Even though it was obvious as day, the decision had to go to VAR.
Due to all the fuss the club made when Luis Diaz’s goal at Tottenham Hotspur last month was ruled to have been offside, many people have suggested that Liverpool was the beneficiary of judgments that were made in their favor. If that were the case, then why didn’t Craig Pawson penalize us for Michael Keane’s handball? As the commentator, I could see it from 200 yards away, up in the stands. The referee didn’t see it, but everyone else in the stadium did? This disproves the claim made by Evertonians that it was only approved after a VAR review.
We were awarded another early penalty when Nathan Patterson brought down Luis Diaz in the box, which was not awarded as he had just been sent off. The referee did a good job throughout the game but made three bad decisions. konate received a second yellow, Luis Diaz was not awarded a penalty and Keane was immediately awarded a penalty.
Another talking point was Ashley Young’s red card, but no Everton fan could seriously complain about that. The first challenge was spells and soon he started hitting the ball. It was like he didn’t want to play the game and couldn’t wait to get off the field! We saw a young Jarrad Branthwaite in Everton’s defense who could have been man of the match and he acted responsibly. At that moment, a 38-year-old man went wild and knocked Tim to the ground. Jurgen Klopp’s substitutes made a big difference in Saturday’s win. Harvey Elliott was involved in every good aspect of our game on the right and when he came on I thought he was excellent. As always, Darwin Nunes was dominant.
Ryan Gravenberch was the best player on the field in the first 25 minutes, which was a very good result. The only problem for him is that he barely played for Bayern last year. That means he tires easily due to lack of game preparation. Gravenberch can be a very good buy when they get their act together.
