Everton shareholder livid at ‘ridiculous’ incident vs Wolves, screenshot shared to thousands
David Moyes’ Everton played out a controversy-filled draw with Wolves at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Everton were held to a 1-1 draw with Wolves on Wednesday night, as Moyes‘ men passed up a big opportunity to put three points on the board.
Michael Keane had given Everton an early lead, before Mateus Mane equalised with 20 minutes to play, as Rob Edwards’ side made it three games unbeaten in the Premier League out of nowhere.
Referee Tom Kirk waved away Wolves’ appeals for a penalty early in the second half – a decision the Premier League’s newest referee was told he’d got correct.
However, he wouldn’t be afforded the same feedback for his assessment of some key flashpoints later in the game.
Mike Parry blasts Tom Kirk for Everton calls vs Wolves
In the space of seven second half minutes, the match descended into somewhat of a pantomime.
Keane was shown a straight red card for violent conduct on 83 minutes, after replays showed he did have a hold of Tolu Arokodare’s hair when both players jumped up to contest a header.
Everyone connected with Everton inside the stadium felt it was an extremely harsh decision to brandish the red card, and tempers quickly began to spiral.
Jack Grealish was then shown a red card for sarcastically clapping Kirk’s decision to award him a free-kick, having just been booked for dissent minutes earlier.
Everton were able to see out the remainder of the game at 1-1, but that did little to ease the frustrations, and writing via his X account shortly after the full-time whistle, Everton fan and shareholder Mike Parry voiced his displeasure with the Keane decision in particular.
“He touched his hair because a defender has to protect himself by putting his palms on his opponent’s shoulders and this opponent has very long hair so it was unavoidable,” said Parry, who shared a screenshot of the incident to his thousands of followers.
“This is the most ridiculous red card ever in the Premier League… Michael Keane sent off for violent conduct.
“He put his hands on the back of a Wolves defender who has long hair…Very wrong decision in my view by newest referee Tom Kirk.”
Everton suffer massive setback in Wolves draw
Losing Grealish for one game is a blow, but it’s not the end of the world for Everton.
- Everton had 45 per cent possession against Wolves
- The Toffees registered 13 shots on goal, with just two being on target
- Wolves had 12 shots on the Everton goal, with four on target
Dwight McNeil will now likely slide over to the left, with Tyler Dibling sure to come back into the starting lineup down the right as a result.
However, Moyes is considerably more stretched for options in central defence now, as Keane faces a three-match suspension.
James Tarkowski and Jake O’Brien are now Everton’s only two fit and natural central defenders in the first-team squad, with Jarrad Branthwaite still recovering from an injury issue that has prevented him from kicking a competitive ball in anger this season.