The FA Cup returned on Thursday night and as Crystal Palace welcomed Everton the game was yet another disappointing one.
In the FA Cup Roy Hodgson‘s side once again were uninspiring and dull as they failed to take advantage of a 10-man Everton side.
Ultimately the 0-0 draw was fair given neither side showed any attacking threat or have any real chance of note.
The game for Crystal Palace therefore didn’t have too many exciting moments with the night being defined by VAR and yet another terrible referee’s decision.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin was shown red, after a tackle on Nathaniel Clyne in which he both won the ball and made zero contact with the Palace man.
The decision left Everton fan Tony Bellew raging and it’s clear to see why as even the Palace players looked shocked at the outcome.
What Joachim Andersen said to Dominic Calvert-Lewin?
As the referee viewed the monitor watching the tackle, everyone knew what was about to come given how many times we’d seen it.
However, standing next to Calvert-Lewin, Joachim Andersen had a different view and tried to convey that to the Everton forward.
He was caught on video saying, “It’s not a red” to the eventual red card-ee as seen on ITV last night.
A decision which no doubt will spark some more serious conversations about referee competency in the next few weeks.
It wasn’t a red card, referees must improve
On the one hand, it’s easy to understand why it was given, due to the high tackle and studs were up. However when there is no or minimal contact surely common sense should prevail.
If a Palace player was sent off for that we’d have been fuming. Football is a contact sport and we need to go back to treating it as such.
Far too frequently these days are decisions being indefensible and last night was another.
