Mark Chapman baffled by Craig Pawson decision-making in Everton v Liverpool
Mark Chapman was left baffled by Craig Pawson’s decision-making in the Merseyside derby where Everton suffered a 2-0 defeat.
Speaking on BBC Sport’s Monday Night Club podcast (23 October), the presenter was less concerned over Pawson’s decisions to send Ashley Young off but not Ibrahima Konate, but questioned the referee’s consistency in the game.
Everton suffered a familiar derby defeat at Anfield on Saturday (21 October), but the controversial decision-making by Pawson, which saw Konate survive what should have been a second yellow card, did little to help the Toffees.
Chapman said: “The problem, and when we talk about consistency, it’s not whether [Mateo] Kovacic doest get sent off but Ashley Young does, that’s not the point.
“The point is in the same game with the same referee, he has judged, he has looked at something and judged them completely differently.
“And that surely is the issue in that because it wasn’t nasty at all from Konate but there was a cynicism to stop Everton breaking away.”
Consistency is key
To have exact consistency from all referees across all matches is a tough ask. Some referees may be more lenient at some stages in the game or may come down hard on fouls quickly.
However, Chapman is spot-on regarding the crucial need to have consistency across the 90 minutes. Everton were no favourites going into the clash but looked strong heading into the second-half level despite Young’s dismissal. While Liverpool’s quality emerged in the end through a Mohamed Salah brace, the face could have been very different if Konate saw a deserved second yellow card.
Refereeing decisions have been under fire all season, especially the controversial nature of Liverpool’s loss to Tottenham. While the Goodison Park faithful would have been laughing at the unlucky Reds then, the general need for better refereeing is becoming more and more obvious with every passing game week.
Human errors are understandable, but the pressure of the Anfield crowd could have got to Pawson at the Toffees’ expense.
In other Everton news, a journalist has shared an unseen incident in Liverpool v the Toffees in a clash that left one player ‘furious’.