Everton’s manager David Moyes believes that the winner of Diogo Jota in the Merseyside derby on Wednesday should have been prohibited for offside, describing him as a “very easy decision to give”.
In the accumulation of JOTA’s goal in the 57th minute, Liverpool midfielder Ryan Gravenberch tried to play a pass to Luis Diaz, who was standing at the edge of Everton’s box in what seemed to be an offside position.
Everton defender James Tarkowski went to the ground to intercept the pass. The ball then turned to Jota, who then played a two with Diaz before making his way in the box to score the only goal of the match.
“There was an offside goal, which they got, so that’s the difference in the match this evening,” said Moyes to Sky.
“I think the player behind Tarkowski (Diaz) interferes with him by cleaning it. It is a clear offside, I think it is a very easy decision to give. I do not understand any reason why it would not have been given as offside, none at all.”
“I don’t think there are many managers who come here and think they get a lot of decisions in Anfield,” he added during his post-match press conference. “This is my opinion. And it’s the one who, I think, is quite easy. It’s really easy to give offside. “
Liverpool’s head coach Arne Slot said after the match that it was a “clear goal”, but admitted that he would have been frustrated if he had been at the reception of the decision.
“Depending on the rules, it was a goal for no one to complain,” Slot told Sky. “There are always question points, but the right thing is that we have rules. The rules tell us, at least that’s what they have just shown on television, that it is a clear goal.
“I would be frustrated if I conceded, but I am frustrated by the rule, and not the execution of the rule because the execution of the rule was perfect of the arbitrator. But the rule in itself is frustrating because you must always help, in my opinion, the offensive team.
“People who establish the rules are not there for the love of the game, they are just there to establish the rules.”
Moyes also had his word to say on another controversial moment of the game. Tarkowski received a yellow card for a challenge in the 11th minute which saw him win the ball but catch the Liverpool midfielder, Alexis Mac Allister High on the leg. The decision was examined by the referee of the video assistant (VAR) for a possible red card, but Tarkowski remained on the ground.
“I thought that at the time, it was a brilliant tackle. Since I saw it, we could have been lucky, we did not have red because it looked high,” said Moyes.
Everton returns to the action on Saturday when they welcome Arsenal, while Liverpool visits Fulham on Sunday.
What are the rules of offside?
Depending on the rules of the FA, if “a player moving or standing, an offside position is on the way to an opponent and interferes with the movement of the opponent towards the ball, it is an off-game offense if it has an impact on the ability of the opponent to play or challenge the ball.”
A player is also considered offside if he interferes with the opponent by defying the ball, obstructing his vision line or “doing an obvious action which clearly has an impact on the ability of an opponent to play the ball”.
(Carl Reine / Getty Images)
