Craig Pawson misses Wolves vs Everton controversy, sanction needed after James Tarkowski incident
Everton were eliminated from the Carabao Cup after a 2-0 loss to Wolves on Tuesday.
David Moyes made seven changes to his Everton side for the Molineux contest on 23 September, and it ultimately proved to be too many.
Dwight McNeil was one of the Everton changes, and he did not impress in a rare opportunity, but the Blues’ performance was not good enough in general.
However, they may feel hard done by, with several incidents not going in their favour in the tense contest.
Goodison News presents the exclusive opinion of former Premier League and FIFA-listed referee Keith Hackett.
Wolves star should have been punished for James Tarkowski incident vs Everton
Everton’s loss to Wolves was a huge disappointment, and there was controversy as the Toffees were chasing the game.
In the dying embers of the contest, there was an off-ball incident between James Tarkowski and Santi Bueno, with the Wolves ace feigning a head injury to try and stop a Blues attack.
Former PGMOL chief Hackett believes that Craig Pawson should have handed Bueno a booking and that the incident warrants retrospective punishment.
Speaking exclusively to Goodison News, he said: “I was disappointed that Pawson did not see this offence down to his poor positioning and awareness.
“If he had witnessed the incident, he would have cautioned the Wolves player for an act of simulation.
“Another incident where I would like to see the introduction of a retrospective review and sanction.”
Everton will not be surprised by another refereeing error
Moyes’ side have been subjected to an error from the officials in nearly every game this season.
The Blues’ opponents were handed penalties in their opening two Premier League matches against Leeds and Brighton for contentious handball claims.
Then, against Liverpool on 20 September, Darren England booked Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall for taking a free-kick too quickly, while not booking Conor Bradley for several fouls on Jack Grealish.
- Both Moyes and Jack Grealish have spoken out against England’s decision-making in the Merseyside derby
- Dewsbury-Hall is now one match away from suspension, after a fourth booking in four matches
- The two penalty decisions in the opening two matches were very harsh
He also only added three minutes at the end of the game, which was a controversial decision, given the numerous stoppages in play throughout the second half.
The Toffees need to bounce back and get back to winning ways, but they need referees to step up and not make the wrong decisions.
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