Thomas Frank refused to be drawn on whether Brentford benefited from refereeing decisions against Everton - but believes the call by Michael Oliver to award Richarlison a first-half penalty was 'soft'.
Everton’s hopes of avoiding Premier League relegation suffered a setback on Sunday afternoon as Brentford twice came from behind to claim all three points at Goodison Park. The game was full of talking points.
The first arrived with the Blues leading 1-0 thanks to Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s goal. Richarlison looked to be having his shirt pulled by Kristoffer Ajer inside the Brentford box as a ball was delivered towards the back post - but the referee gave nothing for the incident.
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And in the blink of an eye, Frank Lampard’s side were reduced to 10-men after Jarrad Branthwaite was given his marching orders when he tangled with Ivan Toney as the forward raced through on goal.
Everton’s players and supporters were left angered by the call to not award the penalty at the other end. But the ECHO understands that VAR did check the incident, but it was not believed to meet the threshold of a clear and obvious error.
The Blues were awarded a spot-kick just before the break when Richarlison was brought down inside the box by Mads Bech Sorensen. However, Oliver decided against showing the defender a second yellow card.
Salomon Rondon was then shown a straight red card just minutes after coming off the bench for a wild challenge on Rico Henry. But when asked post-match if he felt his side benefited from the call not to award Richarlison a penalty, Frank referenced a meeting with officials at the start of the season as the reason why it may not have been awarded.
He said: “Very delighted. Obviously a very difficult place to come. I think the Everton fans were remarkable. I think it is potentially one of the best atmospheres I have ever tried.
“Then of course the dynamic changed in the game. We struggled until their first goal mainly because we handled the long balls badly. Which actually continued a tiny bit throughout the half as we saw with the 2-1 goal. We need to do better.
“Then we came back into the game and I understand the red card in a way helped us, but I think it is important to mention that a lot of teams this season haven’t won if they have been behind then playing 11 against 10.”
Frank then added on the Richarlison incident, saying: “I don’t know what the situation was. I think one thing the refs said to us before the start of the season was that we should avoid the soft pens.
“I think the pen they get is soft. When they talk about minimal contact then I think it is a little bit soft. Okay it was given and it is easy to sit here after you win, but I don’t know what to say about it.”
The Dane then concluded on the decisions, saying: “It is easy to say a lot but I think Rondon slipped, it was never on purpose. The red card was unlucky.
“I think the young centre-back, Branthwaite, I feel for him because it was never his intention. I am convinced, but the small bits change games.”
