Sean Dyche said he was astonished by Craig Pawson’s “incredible” failure to dismiss Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konaté in the Merseyside derby after 10-man Everton were beaten 2-0 at Anfield.
Everton had Ashley Young sent off for two bookable offences in the first half and were eventually breached when VAR spotted a handball by Michael Keane inside his own area. Dyche had no major complaint over the eventual decision to award a penalty, converted by Mohamed Salah, nor Young’s second yellow card. But he was left seething when Konaté escaped a second yellow for a trip on the substitute Beto with the game goalless.
Jürgen Klopp immediately substituted his defender and said he understood the Everton manager’s annoyance. But he added: “We’ve been on the other side of it and we have to accept that [as managers]. It’s really hard to do that in the first moment, but with time you get over it.”
Dyche said of the Konaté incident: “I have no clue about it. I asked the referee and he said he didn’t feel it was a bookable offence. I think a lot of people who were here today would be stunned it was not a second yellow, including their manager who couldn’t wait to get him off. He knows and we know. Fair play to him [Klopp] for his honest view. I don’t want to talk about referees but that one is incredible to me. And I got a yellow card. I don’t know what for. I was just gesticulating like everyone else in the stadium and me and my coaching staff got booked. That is just ridiculous.”
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Dyche added: “I’ve seen the footage back and within a second he’s saying ‘no chance’. He hasn’t given himself any thinking time. I’d be amazed if anyone out there doesn’t think that’s a yellow. That is just bizarre to me. How it’s not a second yellow in the modern game is nearly impossible.”
While acknowledging Everton’s frustration at Pawson’s performance, Klopp insisted his side were deserved victors having dominated against 11 and 10 men. The Liverpool manager said: “When Ibou didn’t get the second yellow I thought: ‘We don’t give it a chance and take him off.’ I understand, I can imagine, the frustration of Everton and Sean in this moment. Absolutely. Yes it was 0-0 and would have been 10 v 10 but I thought we were the better side. Would we have won? I don’t know, we will never find out. Would Everton have changed anything or not? We don’t know. Would they have been a bit more offensive or not? That’s all hypothetical obviously. So 2-0 and we deserved the three points. I think there is no doubt.”
