Everton completed disrespected by MOTD with disgraceful reaction to defeat vs Liverpool
Everton fans will already have been feeling frustrated following Saturday’s narrow loss to Liverpool, and Match of the Day’s (MOTD) coverage of the game will not have helped.
Liverpool beat Everton 2-1 in the Merseyside derby, with Hugo Ekitike’s first-half strike ultimately proving enough to secure the three points for Arne Slot’s side.
Darren England’s performance has been roundly criticised, with the referee making several bizarre decisions in favour of the home side.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was booked for taking a quick free kick, in what was perhaps the strangest moment of Saturday’s game.
Premier League referee Darren England
Credit: Imago
The winger was fouled six times throughout the game, but, incredibly, was booked himself for his complaints instead of any Liverpool defender.
Perhaps the biggest offender, Conor Bradley, committed four fouls, with England appearing to forget his cards when it came to the right-back.
Speaking to BBC MOTD following the game, Grealish said: “He gave Kiernan a yellow card for taking a quick free-kick, and I was like ‘what are you doing? We’re losing, we want to get the ball back in play and carry on playing!’
Player Fouls Yellow carded?
Conor Bradley 4 No
Milos Kerkez 2 No
Jack Grealish 0 Yes
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall 0 Yes
Liverpool vs Everton
“And he gives him a yellow card, it baffles me. That’s so unheard of, I’ve never heard of that in my life so I was just saying that to him.”
Yet, despite including footage of the incident in their match coverage, MOTD elected to completely ignore any discussion of the referee’s performance.
MOTD has often been praised for not being afraid to criticise referees, aiming to display a balanced and accurate coverage of each and every Premier League game.
But in choosing to ignore what was undoubtedly a key part of the result, Saturday’s show failed to do exactly that.
Liverpool heavily favoured in Match of the Day’s analysis
The Merseyside derby ultimately ended as a narrow victory for the home side, with Everton dominating much of the second half in search of an equaliser.
But you would not think that, had you relied on just MOTD’s analysis of the game.
Pundits Danny Murphy and Wayne Rooney, and presenter Kelly Cates, neglected to go as far as even mention Idrissa Gueye’s brilliantly struck goal, with the entirety of the coverage focused on Liverpool’s attack.
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In fact, in what was ultimately a game of two halves, not a single clip the pundits chose to analyse came from the second.
Liverpool brought £241million worth of summer signings off the bench in the second half, but looked average amid the fightback of their visitors. Everton can be proud of that, despite MOTD’s reluctance to say it themselves.
