Jarrad Branthwaite slams Craig Pawson after ‘blatant’ decision went against Everton v Liverpool
Jarrad Branthwaite has slammed Craig Pawson’s decision not to send off Ibrahima Konate for Liverpool in their Merseyside derby win over Everton.
The Toffees lost 2-0 at Anfield on Saturday (21 October) as Mohammed Salah found the net twice, but Sean Dyche’s side were forced to play much of the match with 10 men after Ashley Young was sent off after 37 minutes having picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Luis Diaz.
But it looked as though the home side would also be reduced to 10 men when Konate pulled Beto to the ground having already been booked earlier in the match, only for Pawson to not show the Frenchman a second yellow card much to the frustration of Everton defender Branthwaite.
As quoted by the Liverpool Echo (23 October) he said: “Beto went past Konate who is on a yellow already, he takes him down and it’s clear. I don’t know how it’s not a second yellow card.
“He’s gone right through the middle of the pitch, it’s one v one, it’s a blatant yellow but he hasn’t given it so we can’t do anything about that now.”
“That’s the problem, there’s no consistency throughout the refereeing. If he gets sent off, it’s back to a level playing field and probably a different game but we’re down to 10 men and against it all game because of the decision he hasn’t given to award the second yellow for Konate and we’re up against it for the rest of the match.”
Blatant
It certainly feels as though everyone who has seen Konate’s foul in the Merseyside derby seems to agree that the defender should have definitely been sent off, especially considering how quickly Young was shown his marching orders in the first half.
The Toffees managed to defend excellently with 10 men for most of the match and managed to limit the opportunities that Liverpool had in the game and had both teams lost a player, Everton might have been able to steal at least a point.
Consistency is key with officiating and the worrying thing currently is the fact that referees are failing to remain consistent during individual matches, so how will they be able to make regular decisions on a game-by-game basis?
Away from the decision however, Branthwaite once again put in an impressive performance at the heart of defence alongside James Tarkowski and the Toffees have an excellent talent on their hands. Everton have done very well to tie him down to a new deal at Goodison Park.
In other Everton news, Jurgen Klopp has shared his sympathy with Dyche following Pawson’s decision against the Toffees