Jamie O’Hara outraged at ‘shocking’ decision that cost Everton v Liverpool
Everton battled hard to no avail in today’s Merseyside derby as Liverpool came out on top in a heated game thanks to two second-half goals.
The stubborn Toffees defence held out for over an hour but eventually, their defiance was broken as Andy Robertson headed home a Mohamed Salah cross before Divock Origi used his own noggin to double the host’s lead.
Frank Lampard won’t be too downhearted with his side’s display against one of the world’s best teams even though the result saw them drop into the relegation zone courtesy of Burnley’s win at home to Wolves.
Everton should have had a penalty though in the second half that could have seen them go 1-0 up as Anthony Gordon was shoved in the back by Joel Matip in a blatant manner.
The referee gave nothing and Sky Sports pundit Jamie O’Hara was apoplectic with rage at the bewildering decision.
“Shocking, shocking refereeing as usual,” O’Hara said. “Everton have been brilliant getting in behind Liverpool.
“Anthony Gordon makes a great run and he gets into the box, past Matip, and Matip leans on him.
“It’s a stonewall penalty. I don’t know how the referee hasn’t given it.”
Encouraging
Everyone seems to be in agreement that we should have been given a spot-kick but that shouldn’t take anything away from what we saw out there today.
Yes, the result didn’t go our way and we set a new record for the lowest possession percentage in the process but that isn’t what today was all about.
This was always going to be a game we would likely lose but we needed to see some real fight from these players and that is exactly what was on show at Anfield.
They were all getting stuck into challenges, not backing down and rustling their opponents to try and wrestle the game in their favour.
Lampard will be encouraged to see that the desire is still deep down in there somewhere and now he has to find a way to get it out of them for every single game until the end of the season because it is Championship football at Goodison Park if not.
In other Everton news, Gary Lineker also reacted to the penalty shout on Twitter moments after full-time.
Be sure to follow Goodison News on Facebook for 24/7 updates on Everton plus more exclusive interviews with Kevin Campbell.