Everton vs Manchester United: Ex-Referees chief slams Alejandro Garnacho ‘simulation’ footage
Keith Hackett has backed criticism of Alejandro Garnacho for “simulation” in the win against Everton at Old Trafford.
The ex-Premier League referee, and former head of the PGMOL, reacted via Twitter on 10 March to say that a Toffees supporter was “spot on” to highlight the Argentine’s behaviour.
The United teenager was felled twice for penalties at in the 2-0 home win a day earlier as Sean Dyche’s side failed to take advantage of their own dominance and shot themselves in the foot at the back, despite good work from Jordan Pickford in goal.
For the first he was caught by a lazy trailing leg from James Tarkowski after 10 minutes and left rolling on the turf in apparent pain, until the point he realised he had won a spot kick when he immediately sat up and celebrated towards the home fans.
Hackett wrote: “Spot on with your observations. We saw in the late eighties nineties the rise in acts of Simulation.”
Alejandro Garnacho guilty of ‘simulation’ as Everton lose at Old Trafford
The 19-year-old was the primary threat for a flat United side who might feel like they got away with one against Sean Dyche’s men, who once again didn’t take advantage of their opportunities.
Although Garnacho’s extra antics were somewhat infuriating there weren’t too many complaints about either of the penalties, which is what made his feigning injury essentially unnecessary.
He might argue that without it the ever-unpredictable officials might have just ignored the coming together, and given how many bizarre decisions seem to be made each week he might have a point.
He wasn’t caught especially hard by Tarkowski, whose lazy swinging leg summed up a pretty dismal afternoon for the Everton centre-back, but in modern football it was contact enough to win a penalty so if he had just gone down and appealed the VAR would have likely given it either way.
Ben Godfrey’s decision to lunge in and bring him down a second time before the break, after James Garner had whiffed on a tackle outside the box and Amadou Onana, already on a booking, had pulled out of his own, was even clearer.
Dyche would have been tearing his hair out if he had any to see his players have the better of the game against Erik ten Hag’s side and yet throw it away with two key mistakes, as Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford scored, so the footage of Garnacho will have just been the icing on an infuriating cake.
In other Everton news, Josh Wander has been summoned to court in a dispute over x-rated photos after concluding talks with the Premier League.
For more Everton news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.