Pundit rages at what he saw in Everton draw with Brighton as Sean Dyche left baffled
Michael Ball was “really annoyed” by the inconsistent refereeing as Everton drew 1-1 with Brighton at Goodison Park at the weekend.
The former Toffees defender said in his Liverpool Echo column on 6 November that he had no problem with Abdoulaye Doucouré being penalised multiple times for apparently pushing Seagulls players in the back, but was infuriated by Tim Robinson’s failure to apply the same standards when Dwight McNeil went down in the box.
Everton took an early lead against Roberto De Zerbi’s side through Vitalii Mykolenko but, after two penalty shouts were turned down and the visitors dominated possession without truly threatening, conceded an unlucky late equaliser when Kaoru Mitoma’s cross looped off Ashley Young and over Jordan Pickford.
Dyche had told BBC Sport (4 November) after the final whistle: “I don’t know what’s going on any more to be honest”.
Ball said: “I have to agree with the comments Sean Dyche made about the officials on Saturday.
“I, like a lot of people, don’t like to comment on the performances of the officials, but I have to say that at the weekend I couldn’t help but think a few calls went against us.
“Twice, Abdoulaye Doucoure was penalised for nudges in the back during either half. Fine, no problem. If referee Tim Robinson thinks they are fouls, then I have no issues with that.
“But what really annoyed me was that when Dwight McNeil was nudged in the back during the opening 45 minutes, the referee waved play on. The same happened again during the second-half when Dominic Calvert-Lewin was pushed over.
“You can’t be giving a foul to one side and not the other. You don’t want favours from referees, but you do want consistency.”
Irritation
In comparison to some of the glaringly poor officiating that Everton have been on the wrong end of in recent seasons it was a lesser gripe against Brighton.
There were also some suggestions at the weekend that the Toffees were actually getting the benefit of the doubt more often than not from Robinson, so it seems like a unsatisfactory performance from him all round.
Either way it is still a valid point that if a referee is going to make calls based on one standard then it makes no sense to then change it in certain areas of the pitch.
It seems clear that confidence in the Premier League’s officiating has hit a low and now it looks like open season on them after any perceived or actual injustice.
Everton have had their fair share in recent campaigns and the best they have got in response is an apology from Mike Riley over the failure to award what appeared to be an obvious penalty against Manchester City two seasons ago.
Liverpool were genuinely on the wrong end of a baffling VAR calamity against Tottenham before the last international break and their public statements raised concerns that the officials in the subsequent Merseyside derby might be influenced, with that clash at Anfield then duly mired in controversy that didn’t go in the Toffees’ favour.
Now Arsenal have taken that a step further after their loss to Newcastle in railing against a far more debatable outrage, and it seems like the stakes are only increasing.
Everton got a decent point that probably should have been three at the weekend and the referee has once more caused gripes, even if he perhaps didn’t impact the outcome in such an obvious manner than some have.
In other Everton news, Stan Collymore has suggested the fans will be crying amid an “incredibly worrying” reaction to the latest 777 takeover developments.