Keith Hackett appears to react sarcastically to controversy in Everton game
Keith Hackett seemed to react to the decision to send Everton midfielder Allan off against Newcastle by sarcastically referring to a separate incident.
The Brazilian was controversially shown a red card for a cynical foul on Allan Saint-Maximin in the second half at Goodison last night (Thursday 17 March), after Craig Pawson was sent to the pitch-side monitor by the VAR and overturned his original decision of a booking.
Asked on Twitter immediately after the red card, former PGMOL boss Hackett responded on his personal account by saying: “Are you talking about the elbow on Burns? [sic]”
Some fans were unhappy with an elbow from Abdoulaye Doucoure which was not looked at by the video assistant.
Newcastle defender Burn also took an elbow to the head from Chelsea’s Kai Havertz at the weekend, with the incident being ruled accidental and receiving a yellow card.
Whataboutery
It is hard to categorically say that Hackett was being facetious as the original question to him did not mention the Toffees midfielder by name.
But the message was sent at the time of the incident and with the hashtag referring to last night’s game.
The refereeing decisions at the moment are creating plenty of scope for a feeling of injustice to be left lingering.
An iffy decision for one team is not balanced out by a debatable one the other way.
The Allan decision, by the letter of the law, had enough for a sending off as the player was off his feet.
But the initial reaction all round was that it was an obvious yellow, and with official clearly sighted and only yards away it didn’t seem enough to constitute a clear and obvious error.
Alan Shearer referred to it as an “absolute howler” after the match on Amazon Prime, to change the decision.
Frank Lampard wasn’t impressed, and considering the decision to not refer the apparently blatant Rodri handball to the monitor in the Manchester City defeat, it isn’t hard to see why.
Thanks to Alex Iwobi’s late winner it didn’t destroy the club’s hopes last night, but it will have an effect on future games as Allan faces three matches out with suspension.
In other Everton news, a surprise visit to Finch Farm from an important club figure before the game may have caused a reaction.
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