Everton v Liverpool Exclusive: Ex-PGMOL chief reacts to Michael Oliver controversy
Michael Oliver waved away Everton protests for a penalty in their dramatic 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Goodison Park on Wednesday night.
James Tarkowski scored the final Merseyside Derby goal at Goodison Park in the 98th minute to rescue the Blues a vital point against their bitter rivals.
Beto fired Everton into a shock lead in the 11th minute before Alexis Mac Allister pulled the Reds level five minutes later.
Salah’s 73rd-minute goal seemed to be enough to secure Liverpool the derby-day bragging rights but after a lengthy VAR check in stoppage time, Tarkowski ended the game as the hero.
Michael Oliver waves away Everton penalty shout v Liverpool
But the game could have gone down a different route if Everton were given a penalty before Salah’s goal.
As Beto challenged Ibrahima Konaté for a ball that was going into the box, the ball clearly hit the Liverpool defender’s hand as it bounced up in front of him.
Unfortunately for Everton, Oliver didn’t think it was a penalty in real-time and VAR seemed to stand by the on-field decision as there wasn’t enough in the incident to overturn the call.
After seeing a couple of replays of the incident, Keith Hackett decided that Oliver got the decision correct.
“It was the correct call by Michael Oliver and the VAR to not award a penalty kick,” Hackett told Goodison News.
Hackett refereed in the Football League and the Premier League between 1972 and 1994 while he also served as a FIFA-listed official for a decade.
After hanging up his whistle, he served as the general manager for the PGMOL from 2004 until 2010.
Incredible last-gasp scenes in Everton v Liverpool
Everton’s recent history in the Merseyside Derby has been shocking.
Other than Sean Dyche’s 2-0 win at Goodison Park in April last year and the famous 2-0 win at Anfield in February 2021, it’s been a very barren run for the Blues.
However, that 2-2 draw feels like a win with Tarkowski incredibly grabbing a late equaliser for David Moyes’s men.
It was absolute pandemonium in the stands and on the pitch at full-time but Everton fans, ultimately, are the ones who have the bragging rights this week.