West Ham 1 Everton 2:It is a rare day indeed when both sets of fans chant "You don't know what you're doing" in the referee's direction at the final whistle, but that was the situation facing Andrew Taylor when he and his assistants headed for the dressingroom after their afternoon's work on Saturday.
His dismissal of West Ham’s Carlton Cole for a high challenge on Leighton Baines after 67 minutes raised eyebrows and a red card for the visitors’ Darron Gibson after something similar on Mark Noble in injury time drew boos from the home supporters and saw the Everton fans applaud the derision as the Irishman departed, with both sets uniting in a burst of “You’re not fit to referee.”
Moyes annoyed
All in a day’s work for some, and despite coming from behind for the ninth time in 18 league games this season, it left David Moyes annoyed that his Everton team’s slick performance would be overshadowed by the controversy and his opposite number Sam Allardyce suggesting changes to the way football is officiated.
“I said to Sam on the touchline it wasn’t a sending off for Cole in my eyes and he said the same about Gibson,” said Moyes, who is minded to appeal jointly with the West Ham manager. “It will have affected them more than us obviously, because Cole was sent off a bit earlier in the game.”
Stirred the pot
Allardyce stirred the pot, throwing in a barb at the Uefa president for good measure: “The only way to make it better for us all is to bring technology into it. I’ve always said two or three [video] challenges would be in our favour if we were allowed it. Forget about your [Michel] Platinis, who are antiquated. They are not doing us any favours. [Decisions] affect results and there’s £65 million [in TV money] coming [for Premier League clubs] next year. Like cricket, the technology means it’s done in less than two minutes at the absolute most.”
Though the two dismissals may have adversely affected the flow of the game and will hinder both managers’ preparations for the remaining Christmas games, Everton would have welcomed a video challenge of the decision to disallow Leon Osman’s thumping header from a Baines corner which was chalked off by a linesman for a block on the goalkeeper by Victor Anichebe.
Everton fell behind two minutes later to a low 20-yarder from Cole, but with Nikica Jelavic low on confidence and horribly out of form, Moyes’s side could not fashion an equaliser until Anichebe met Steven Pienaar’s cross with a flicked header 20 minutes into the second half.
Moyes has had to make do and mend more times than he would care to remember deservedly took the three points thanks to Pienaar.
