Everton v Nottm Forest: Pundit rages over ‘absolutely woeful’ incidents
Everton lost 2-0 against Nottingham Forest at Goodison Park on Sunday, but Michael Ball thought the officiating in the game was awful.
The Toffees’ four-game unbeaten run came to an end as goals from Chris Wood and Morgan Gibbs-White handed them a convincing defeat in a game that had its fair share of controversies on 29 December.
Mike Dean believes James Tarkowski should have been sent off for a foul on Wood late in the first half while already on a yellow, while fans had their hearts in their mouth when Jarrad Branthwaite dived in on Gibbs-White on another occasion.
With the refereeing quickly becoming a major point, Ball hit out at the officials and wrote on X (29 December): “The officials are absolutely woeful today at Goodison.”
Michael Ball slams referees in Everton loss v Nottingham Forest
As a former Everton player, Ball seemingly felt Sean Dyche’s side were hard done by the referees in the game, but did not provide further explanation about his criticism.
Nevertheless, the Toffees’ performance left much to be desired and they cannot make any excuses about the result.
In fact, Tarkowski was perhaps lucky to remain on the pitch after his foul on Wood.
Jarrad Branthwaite, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Jack Harrison all produced underwhelming performances against Forest.
Iliman Ndiaye was perhaps the only positive for Everton on what was a very disappointing evening otherwise.
Dyche’s side, therefore, sit just three points above the relegation zone, albeit with a game in hand.
Goalscoring has been a major headacche for the former Burnley manager this season, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin scoring just twice in the league.
He tries freshening things up front by handing Armando Broja his first start for the Merseyside-based club, but that did not bear fruit as well.
In other Everton news, this celebrity was spotted watching the game at Goodison Park on Sunday.
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