Liverpool boss Arne Slot was sent off in the wake of the final whistle against Everton. That came after Michael Oliver caused frustration with multiple decisions.
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| Michael Oliver during Everton vs Liverpool. (Image: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images) |
Liverpool won't want to hide behind excuses for the draw against Everton. Arne Slot will not be pleased with how his side got sucked into the madness, not for the first time in this fixture — but there's little doubt that refeee Michael Oliver complicated the task for the Reds.
From the first whistle, everything seemed to be going against Liverpool. Bitty fouls were called against the visitor and allowed to slide for the host: Slot's side were hauled up for a foul every 59.7 seconds that Everton had the ball in play.
But as well as this general complaint of poor match control, Oliver incurred the wrath of the Liverpool faithful in several specific incidents. The most high-profile came late on, when Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate were both denied VAR reprieves on the Everton equalizer, but there were flashpoints throughout the game.
Foul by Alexis Mac Allister on Iliman Ndiaye
Everton took the lead in the 11th minute, catching Liverpool out with a well-worked free kick that was finished off neatly by Beto. There was a check for offside, but replays showed that the striker was narrowly onside.
So what's the problem? Well, the free kick quite clearly should not have been awarded in the first place.
This is beyond VAR's remit, so it is up to Oliver to get it right on the pitch. Unfortunately, he completely fell for Iliman Ndiaye's dive.
For that is what it was. This wasn't a case of going down easily or manufacturing contact — Ndiaye simply cheated, throwing himself to the ground to hoodwink Oliver into believing Alexis Mac Allister made any kind of contact.
Oliver bought it. An understandable mistake, but particularly jarring in a game where he steadfastly refused to give anything soft to Liverpool.
In normal circumstances, I'd be calling for the lesser-spotted retrospective diving ban to be applied against Ndiaye; this is a rare case where the officials were successfully deceived by a deliberate act, and the consequences were massive. But judging by the way he departed the pitch 10 minutes later, we might not be seeing him for a long time anyway.
Yellow card for Andy Robertson
In fairness, plenty of Liverpool fans were more annoyed at Andy Robertson than Oliver for this one. But it was deeply frustrating when the Scot saw yellow early on for kicking the ball away.
It's the kind of incident that often goes unpunished. Robertson could just about argue that he was already committed to playing the ball before the whistle blew — if I'm being honest, he definitely had time to pull out of it, but there's typically a degree of leeway.
Oliver chose not to apply that approach, leaving Robertson with a long time to handle his booking. As with so many complaints against referees, it boils down to consistency.
Later in the contest, for instance, Beto punched the ball away after play had been stopped. Unlike Robertson, he could not even make a case that he was intending to play the ball legitimately, and yet a card was not produced.
Idrissa Gueye avoids second yellow card
Nobody wants to brandish a red card in the derby (except after the final whistle, apparently, when you can look like you're being authoritative with zero consequences for the match). But it was Oliver's job to referee the football match, not the occasion.
As such, he had no right to ignore Idrissa Gueye's brazen pull-back on Mohamed Salah as Liverpool sought to break away. Oliver signaled the advantage, using that to explain his decision amid protests from those in red, but Slot would undoubtedly have preferred to see the opponent reduced to 10 men.
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| Idrissa Gueye is put under pressure by Mohamed Salah during the Premier League match between Everton and Liverpool. (Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images) |
It was, after all, a textbook yellow card. Gueye made no attempt for the ball, dragging Salah back in order to stop the attack — had he not been on a yellow already, there would have been no question about it.
Everton will say that Conor Bradley benefited from similar lenience later on. But the Northern Irishman's second foul was far less of a nailed-on bookable offense.
Carlos Alcaraz not penalized for foul on Mohamed Salah
Despite playing into these headwinds, Liverpool had managed to take the lead. It was holding onto its advantage as the match entered five minutes of stoppage time.
The goal, of course, was to take the sting out of the game, and keep the ball up at Everton's end of the field. Salah sought to do just that, jinking past two Everton players before being hacked down by substitute Carlos Alcaraz near the edge of the area.
Of all the incidents Oliver allowed to slide, this was perhaps the most brazen. It's just inexplicable how he decided it was not a foul.
And the consequences proved to be dire. Rather than getting the chance to run down the clock a little more and perhaps work the free kick into the corner, Liverpool was forced onto the back foot, and Everton ultimately equalized.
There was not enough of a causal link for VAR to get involved. But it seems near-certain that Liverpool would have won the match if Oliver had not got this easy decision horribly wrong.
Everton's equalizer
I'll bundle the complaints about the equalizing goal into one section, but there was plenty to aggrieve Liverpool. For one thing, it came more than two minutes beyond the amount of time added on.
Of course, the referee has the power to extend play beyond the indicated "minimum", and Oliver was right to do so. A clash of heads between two Everton players did delay the contest.
But it's rare for match officials to genuinely reflect all additional stoppages when extending the amount of added time. Oliver certainly gave Everton every possible chance to find a second goal.
Then there was the offside check. It was very tight, resulting in a single green line being shown to viewers — that means that the decision fell within the Premier League's "tolerance", in which case the advantage goes to the attacker.
In other words, Abdoulaye Doucoure may well have been beyond Van Dijk. Unfortunately, the technology is not up to scratch.
Finally, there was a foul on Konate by Beto. Again, bear in mind that Oliver had been penalizing Liverpool for the smallest of infringements (and non-existent fouls) all game.
Yet despite looking right at it, Oliver did not see fit to punish Beto, even though he clearly impeded Konate. VAR left it alone as well.
Disallowing the goal would have caused absolute pandemonium at Goodison Park. You'd hope that didn't come into the thinking of Oliver and the VAR team — but this was a fitting end to a match where the officials did not appear fit to cope with the demands of the fixture.
- James Martin
