Everton fans enjoyed double delight on Tuesday night after recording a 2-0 win over Burnley as rivals Liverpool suffered an embarrassing loss at Wolves.
The result saw Everton move to within just five points of Liverpool – who are fifth – but there was still reason to complain after Wolves boss Rob Edwards somehow managed to escape without a booking despite wildly celebrating his side’s late winner over the Reds.
Everton fans will recall David Moyes picking up a yellow card for passionately celebrating the equaliser from Beto late on in the 1-1 draw at Brighton, with many now confused over the lack of consistency.
Respected journalist Phil McNulty has now shared why the Glaswegian was punished and Edwards was not.
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James Tarkowski of Everton celebrates after scoring their side's first goal during the Premier League match between Everton and Burnley
Credit: Getty Images/James Gill – Danehouse.
David Moyes was booked for entering the pitch at the Amex Stadium
The Chief Football Writer for the BBC revealed on X (previously known as Twitter) that the reason Moyes was punished was because he went onto the Amex Stadium pitch, whereas Edwards stayed on the touchline.
McNulty posted: “For clarity. Informed the difference between David Moyes at Brighton and Rob Edwards last night is that Moyes came on the pitch, hence the yellow card, whereas Edwards didn’t.”
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While admittedly not entering the pitch, the Wolves boss still hoofed a ball into the crowd, so it feels bizarre to punish Moyes for celebrating in a similar vein barring a brief moment where he strayed onto the pitch.
Ultimately, we don’t want to see any manager punished for celebrating a goal. This kind of passion makes football special, and any officials actively looking to stamp it out of the game should be ashamed.
Everton need to lodge a complaint about the lack of consistency
Not only was Edwards allowed to celebrate as wildly as he wanted without a yellow card, but Arsenal also showed exactly how inconsistent these woeful officials are nowadays.
After Kai Havertz scored a late winner against Chelsea to seal a spot in the Carabao Cup final for Arsenal last month, a number of substitutes charged the pitch to celebrate. Peter Bankes allowed them all to return to the safety of the touchline without any form of punishment whatsoever.
Arsenal were already 3-2 ahead on aggregate anyway with seconds to go, so the strike hardly held much significance unlike Beto’s effort away to Brighton, which saw Everton snatch an unexpected point from the jaws of defeat in the 97th minute and secure a 1-1 draw.
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Everton manager David Moyes.
How Moyes could be punished for celebrating that, but nobody at Arsenal was for an effort which merely put gloss on a victory, is truly beyond us.
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