Everton boss David Moyes was left baffled by Liverpool’s winning goal being allowed to stand, despite what he felt was an “obvious” offside call during the Merseyside derby.
The Toffees saw their nine-match unbeaten streak in the Premier League come to an end, as Diogo Jota’s second-half goal settled the clash at Anfield.
However, there were question marks over whether or not it should have stood, with Luis Diaz standing in an offside position during the build-up, though deemed not to be interfering with play.
Moyes rued the call, which he felt was an “easy” one for the officials to make.
“The players behind Jarrad [Branthwaite] interfere with him clearing it,” the Everton boss said. “I cannot understand any reason why that wasn’t given offside.
“I don’t know if it can be any clearer. It was very easy to give offside and put the flag up. I have looked at it, and it looks an obvious decision.
“[It is] a bit gut-wrenching when you feel the end result has come from something which wasn’t deserved.”
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Jordan Pickford also felt Diaz should have been penalised for offside but empathised with referee Sam Barrott.
“In the moment, I can’t see what’s happening, but Jarrad said it was a stonewall offside straight away,” he told Sky Sports. But I’m not a referee, and I wouldn’t want to be.
“It’s a big debate, and we’ll see what the referees come out and say. As a team, we thought it was offside, but that’s football. We’re disappointed with that decision, but it can’t always be perfect.”
Everton suffered only their second defeat in 11 Premier League games since Moyes returned to the club (W4 D5), but they had chances in this game, with Beto seeing a goal disallowed and also striking the post.
Despite the defeat, Moyes was pleased by the way his side competed with the runaway Premier League leaders, though he acknowledged they ultimately needed to be better.
“Liverpool were the better team and that’s why they’re top of the league, but we showed great resilience, and we stuck at it,” he added.
“We have been on a great run, the players have been doing brilliantly. I thought we tried to close that gap from their levels to our levels tonight.
“At the moment, they’re the best team in the league. Tonight, we have done a lot of things not as well as we should have done.”
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