Kevin Campbell left ‘fuming’ after Ibrahima Konate dodges red card for Liverpool v Everton
Kevin Campbell was left fuming by Craig Pawson’s decision to not send off Ibrahima Konate in the second half of Liverpool’s win over Everton.
The Toffees fought well at Anfield on Saturday (21 October) but two second-half goals from Mohammed Salah ensured that Jurgen Klopp’s side won the first Merseyside derby of the season, after Ashley Young was sent off in the first half.
Young saw a second yellow for a clumsy foul on Luis Diaz after 37 minutes, only for referee Pawson to decide to not give Konate his marching orders when the Frenchman committed a similar foul midway through the second period, leaving former Toffees forward Campbell fuming.
Speaking on talkSport (21 October, 13:53) he said: “This is the problem when the referee does that in the first half, Konate’s been booked and he (Pawson) doesn’t want to know.
“I’m fuming. That is a booking, let’s have it right. If he hadn’t had the first booking, he has to be booked there.”
Consistency
Every week the conversation following football matches has been dominated by referees’ or VAR decisions with a game seemingly never going by without the officials appearing to make a mistake that costs a side. Pawson’s decisions cost Everton at Anfield.
Few supporters would have disagreed with the decision to send off Young as although the first yellow card seemed soft, there was little argument that he had deserved the second having mistimed his tackle and clearly fouling Luis Diaz.
But the decision not to send off Konate is ridiculous as it was almost a mirror image of the incident involving Young in the first half. Referees have to be consistent in their decision-making, especially in some of the biggest fixtures of the season.
Sean Dyche will likely feel as though his side were let down by the officials at Anfield and it is hard to argue with that statement as nearly every decision that could have gone Liverpool’s way did. Everton battled well against not only one extra man but seemingly Pawson as well.
Something has to be done to improve the standard of referring currently on show in the Premier League as these mistakes are becoming far too regular.
In other Everton news, legal letters have been sent after the Toffees allegedly failed to pay agent’s fees for a signing