Premier League release statement after Everton incident in loss vs Bournemouth
Everton’s evening went from bad to worse as they lost 2-1 to Bournemouth on Tuesday.
Iliman Ndiaye had given Everton the lead from the penalty spot, but the visitors launched an inspired comeback to deny the Blues any points.
Rayan and then Amine Adli scored at Hill Dickinson Stadium on 10 February, to leave David Moyes‘ side gutted after such a positive start.
There was significant controversy surrounding the latter, and then Jake O’Brien was dismissed after bringing Adli down as last man in another incident.
What did the Premier League say about Everton incident?
The O’Brien red was the hammer blow for the Blues, as it always felt like a major task to mount a comeback with 10-men, even with the power of the crowd behind them.
The Premier League released a statement about the incident after Andy Madley sent the Toffees star for his marching orders.
Taking to X on 10 February, they said: “The referee’s call of red card to O’Brien for denial of an obvious goal scoring opportunity (DOGSO) was checked and confirmed by VAR.”
- Read More: Idrissa Gueye lucky as Keith Hackett speaks out on ‘reckless’ Everton vs Bournemouth controversy
Everton have genuine reason to be annoyed
The red card was fair, the Irishman was the last man, and the visiting player was through on goal if he had not intervened.
However, they should be annoyed about one of the other decisions that took the contest away from them on a disappointing evening.
Enes Unal was offside in the build-up to the winning goal, and he attempted to play the ball before Adli put it in the back of the net.
If the Blues are to reach their ambitions of qualifying for Europe, they need to hold on to leads and not throw them away, especially at home.
It was unfortunate that they were on the end of decisions that did not go their way, but ultimately, they had plenty of chances to put the clash to bed before it all started to go wrong.
The likes of Beto and Thierno Barry need to step up with more goals, otherwise, Moyes and Co will be left reeling when they narrowly miss out on a top-eight place and a potential place in Europe.
They need to start finding ways to get the results that they need, or they will struggle to keep up with their rivals around them and miss out.