Everton narrowly lost to Liverpool in the Merseyside Derby on Wednesday night.
The defeat has brought Everton’s nine-game unbeaten run to an end in the Premier League, with some difficult games to come this month.
David Moyes will be well aware his side did not offer a great deal going forward to test Liverpool’s back-up goalkeeper.
However, it could have been a great deal worse after James Tarkowski managed to escape a straight red card for his controversial challenge on Alexis Mac Allister.
But that was not the only controversial moment in the game which turned out to be decisive come full-time.
Speaking to Everton News, former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has shared his thoughts on Liverpool’s winning goal.
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
Mark Clattenburg thinks Liverpool’s Luis Diaz was offside
It was a Diogo Jota goal which decided the points as his second-half strike earned Liverpool the 1-0 lead.
However, in the build-up to the goal, Liverpool’s Luis Diaz was spotted in an offside position and seemingly made Tarkowski dive in to block a pass.
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No offside was given, but Clattenburg believes the Toffees could well have a case to be left feeling frustrated following the defeat at Anfield.
“I think assistant referees, referees and VARs complicate their lives because in the past and always these decisions when they’re so close, where a defender and an attacker are so close, for me this is an easy decision just to give offside because Luis Diaz wants to play the ball.
“The defender clearly wants to stop Luis Diaz getting to the ball. He doesn’t know that Luis Diaz is in an offside position, but he wants to stop the ball going through to him,” he said.
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“Because he’s then preventing Diaz getting into a goal-scoring opportunity, and when they’re that close together, you could argue again there could be an impact on the defender’s ability to play the ball.
“So there are some factors that can be covered under Law 11. I think the simple decision is, is to give offside. However, I’m sure PGMOL will hide behind that Luis Diaz is behind the defender, doesn’t make an impact, he doesn’t affect the ability to play the ball.
“And therefore will hide behind the subjective nature of this call, but for me, the simple decision is to give offside, and the one that football wants and understands is when a player, an attacking player and a defender are that close together, I believe football want that is offside.”
Of course, there is going to be some saying Everton were fortunate not to see Tarkowski sent off for his challenge.
Tarkowski apologised to Mac Allister after the game, but it the Toffees are unlikely to receive any apology for this decision.
What David Moyes has said about Liverpool’s goal
This is not the first time the Merseyside Derby has been filled with controversy this season, with the meeting at Goodison Park one to remember.
Arne Slot was left furious with Everton fans at Goodison as he felt they were winning their side a lot of decisions from the referee.
But it seems as if the Everton players left the pitch on Wednesday night feeling extremely hard done by with the decision to award a goal.
Speaking to the media after the game, Moyes admitted Jarrad Branthwaite was left baffled why Diaz wasn’t ruled offside.
“In the moment I can’t see what’s happening, but Jarrad said it was a stonewall offside straight away. But I’m not a referee and I wouldn’t want to be,” said Moyes.
“It’s a big debate and we’ll see what the referees come out and say. As a team we thought it was offside but that’s football. We’re disappointed with that decision but it can’t be perfect always.”