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Friday, October 4, 2024

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Everton referee rage as Mo Salah gives the red side of Merseyside derby day delight

Subjective decisions will always make us all fume to the point where you question what on Earth the officials are doing.

Liverpool have had it on a scale which has been unfathomable this season, yes I am on about the Spurs debacle because that was embarrassing for all involved, as it wasn’t even a subjective decision they got wrong it was the fact they couldn’t communicate.

The derby though didn’t have that today but there was several subjective decisions which went Liverpool’s way but there was also one that didn’t.

Unfortunately that was what the story of the game revolved around instead of a moment of madness or magic.

Ashley Young is sent off for two obvious yellow card challenges yet Everton felt aggrieved that Kostas Tsimikas wasn’t given a yellow card.

Starting a 38-year-old Young up against one of the most direct wingers in Europe in Luis Diaz was probably the first mistake in all of this.

Back to the refereeing though.

There is an argument as well that it was Young’s third offence as he did kick the ball away and that is meant to be a yellow however it appears the officials have decided to ignore that new rule already.

That was the first half, the game was boring with no real chances and I blame the 12:30 kick-off.

Half-time changes were made by Sean Dyche which felt like he threw the game away and it would prove to be exactly that due to Michael Keane letting Everton down.

Why he brought him one and went to a five-man defence is a mystery considering they were in a tight low block with a four-man backline, it felt unnecessary to say the least.

Ibrahima Konate picks up a clear yellow card and then makes another foul not long after on Beto.

He trips him up on the halfway line and that is what the uproar is about but Craig Pawson waved it away as he did not deem it enough to be another yellow.

Many have furiously disagreed and it seems that Jurgen Klopp agreed with those as he dragged Konate off immediately after.

The decision that does not go in Liverpool’s favour comes shortly after as Diaz is taken down by a sliding Nathan Patterson, again it is one which if given there cannot be too many complaints.

But it wasn’t, the beauty or should I say the torture of subjective decisions.

A minute or two later is when Keane does something calamitous like he did last season and has everyone questioning why he got brought on.

His arm is so far out it is just plain odd and it is exactly what he done last season against Leicester City.

Why?

The one thing you know to do even at Sunday League level is always have your arms by your side.

Mo Salah, who had arguably one of his worst games in a red shirt, scores the penalty emphatically and then he gets another one on the break when Everton threw men forward in stoppage time.

Something they maybe ought to have been braver doing when it was 11 v 11 considering the fact before today Liverpool only had one league clean sheet.

However you cannot blame Dyche for wanting to keep it tight and attempting to counter as the red card obviously ruined the gameplan to some degree.

Whether Konate going off would have changed the game a whole lot is something which can be debated but it would have certainly given Everton more impetus to not drop so deep.

There were some positives for them though as Jarred Branthwaite shone again and Dominic Calvert-Lewin survived yet another game without injury.

At the moment it appears that they needn’t worry about the threat of a dogfight too much considering the lack of quality around them.

As for Liverpool of course it is derby bragging rights yet again and a spot at the top of the table just for now.

Virgil Van Dijk was fantastic whilst Darwin Nunez looked an incredible threat but there will be need for some improvements in the final third.

So, no crazy derby moment this time around but instead just more poor decisions from officials, something which we can seemingly never escape.

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