Chris Sutton slams Richarlison incident in Everton 3-1 win v Southampton
Chris Sutton has taken aim at Everton forward Richarlison after the Brazilian was booked for an apparent dive against Southampton on Saturday.
The 24-year-old was booked for simulation in the first half of their Premier League opener at Goodison Park.
It summed up a disappointing opening period for the Blues after Adam Armstrong opened the scoring for the south-coast side.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live on Sunday evening [15/08/21], as shared on their Twitter account, ex-England striker Sutton fumed at the Olympic Gold medallist in a segment called ‘The Simulation Game’.
“We shouldn’t be doing this, we didn’t want to bring this game back but we have to, it’s hasn’t stopped,” Sutton said.
“The winner of this week’s simulation game is Richarlison.
“What are you doing? It was ridiculous, wasn’t it?
“Richarlison, you’re better than that.
“It was embarrassing from Richarlison. He got a yellow, it should have been a red.”
Not the worst, but…
First things first, Richarlison did not deserve a penalty, and the yellow card was probably fair.
There was some contact from a Southampton defender around the edge of the area, but not enough to send him tumbling into the box.
It’s something we don’t want to see from opposition players, so we have to call it out when we see it as well.
But it certainly wasn’t the most clear-cut of calls over the weekend, and it feels like Richarlison has been singled out.
He picked himself up from that early disappointment on Saturday, though, scoring within two minutes of the second half before supplying the assist for a Dominic Calvert-Lewin goal that sealed the comeback victory for the Blues in Rafa Benitez’s first official game in charge.
In other Everton news, the agents of this Blues-linked international attacker have flown into Europe to plot his expected summer switch.
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