Joey Barton rages at ‘shambles’ in Everton FA Cup showdown v Luton Town
Joey Barton has been left enraged by the decision to award both of Luton’s goals in their FA Cup win over Everton’ labelling the VAR call a “shambles”.
Sean Dyche’s side bowed out of the FA Cup in the fourth round on Saturday (27 January) with a 2-1 defeat to Luton at Goodison Park, with both of the away side’s goals coming from set-pieces where Everton players appeared to be fouled.
However, the Toffees’ poor luck with officials continued and both strikes stood, much to Barton’s frustration as he voiced his anger with both the poor commentary and the officials.
Writing on his personal X account (27 January) he said: “Carlton Morris fouls Branthwaite. Missed again. Comms and VAR. This is so poor honestly. Two goals. Both should have been disallowed.
“Two fouls before goals. Comms was dreadful. Where was the VAR? Shambles.”
Shambles
It’s safe to say that both of Luton’s goals on Saturday were slightly questionable as there was plenty of contact on both Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jarrad Branthwaite that on another day would have seen both strikes disallowed.
Everton seem to be getting on the wrong end of these sorts of decisions week in and week out, whether it’s in the Premier League or in the FA Cup. These controversial calls are deciding some huge games in the calendar and they never seem to go the Toffees’ way.
All in all, Dyche’s side didn’t do enough or create enough to warrant a place in the third round anyway. They probably deserved a replay at least and had these big calls gone their way, they would have got exactly that.
The only positive from all of this is that Everton now have another gap in their calendar in which they can rest and recover after an intense period which has seen them lose a number of players to injury.
In other Everton news, one BBC pundit has shared his verdict on Abdoulaye Doucoure as he continues to be linked with a transfer
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