Everton: John Brooks replaced on VAR for Merseyside Derby after Crystal Palace offside mistake – BBC journalist
John Brooks has been replaced as VAR for the Everton match against local rivals Liverpool on Monday night (13 February) after making a significant error over the weekend, Simon Stone has confirmed.
Brooks was in charge of VAR for Brighton’s trip to Crystal Palace at the weekend and incorrectly disallowed Pervis Estupinian’s first-half goal after drawing the incorrect line when making his decision.
The PGMOL later came out and apologised for the “significant error”, and the official has now been relieved of his VAR duties for the Merseyside Derby at Anfield. [Daily Mail]
BBC Sport reporter Stone shared a Tweet (Monday 13 February) saying: “PGMOL confirm John Brooks has been replaced as VAR for both Liverpool v Everton tonight and Arsenal v Manchester City on Wednesday evening.
“Brooks was VAR for Palace v Brighton on Saturday when wrong the offside line was drawn.”
Correct call
It would have been a controversial call if Brooks had been kept on the VAR team for the Merseyside Derby after making such a clear mistake at the weekend.
How he managed to draw a line off the wrong defender is beyond belief, and considering the magnitude of the game on Monday night, he simply couldn’t be named on the list of officials. Brooks’ mistake is yet another indictment of how poor the officiating is in the Premier League at the moment.
Considering the Premier League is the best league in the world, they simply need to improve the level of officiating, as officials continue to make mistakes on a weekly basis. Arsenal’s title hopes were given a huge dent by the mistaken offside call against Brentford, while Brighton’s European push this season could come down to mistakes such as the one Brooks made.
Either way, Sean Dyche will be hoping the crunch clash against bitter rivals Liverpool will be short of controversy and his team can do their talking on the pitch.