BBC pundit baffled live on air by controversial incident in Everton win v Crystal Palace
It was a “soft” decision to award Crystal Palace a penalty in the first half against Everton on Saturday (11 November), according to Sam Parkin.
Speaking on co-commentary for BBC Radio London on Saturday (03:04pm), the pundit said Eberechi Eze went on a “brilliant” run before the referee adjudged Toffees centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite to have brought him down.
He added that it was a soft decision after watching it back on a replay, with the Palace attacking midfielder picking himself up to make it 1-1 before the Blues went on to secure a 3-2 victory at Selhurst Park.
“Told you there were going to be no goals,” said Parkin. “Incredible. The game opens up after 30 seconds, then Eze just goes on one of them brilliant, slaloming runs.
“Oh, it’s soft. I thought it was soft watching it live, I’ve just seen it back on the monitor. It will surely be checked.”
Didn’t matter
Although the decision could have had a massive impact on the game, Everton will be glad it didn’t matter in the end after it didn’t prevent them from picking up the three points.
Eze appealed for another penalty about 20 minutes later for what he believed was another foul by Branthwaite, but he was handed a yellow card after being adjudged to have dived by the referee.
That incident perhaps looked more like a foul than the first incident, but it wouldn’t have been right for the Toffees to have conceded two penalties.
A spirited second-half performance from the Blues earned them the victory, with Abdoulaye Doucoure and Idrissa Gueye finding the back of the net.
After a number of solid displays over the past few weeks, the Merseysiders are now in a much better position than they were a few weeks ago as they continue their march up the Premier League table.
