David Moyes was left fuming after Everton’s loss to Liverpool at Anfield, claiming that Luis Diaz was offside before setting up Diogo Jota’s winning goal.
The controversy came when Diaz, standing in an offside position as Everton cleared the ball, teed up Jota in the next phase of play. Moyes didn’t hide his frustration, insisting it should have been an easy call for the officials.
“He’s offside,” said Moyes. “It’s quite an easy one to give as well because all our players are holding on the 18-yard line, and Diaz comes from behind and affects us from behind clearing it. I’m really surprised it wasn’t given or maybe I’m not surprised.”
Moyes hinted that Anfield isn’t a place where visiting teams get many decisions, suggesting that he wasn’t shocked the goal stood despite feeling it was wrong.
“I don’t think there are many managers who come here and think they get loads of decisions. That’s my opinion, and this was one tonight, which I think is very easy to give offside, very easy.”
The Everton boss also admitted that his captain, James Tarkowski, was lucky not to see red after a tough challenge on Alexis MacAllister. Tarkowski went in with a two-footed lunge but only got a yellow card. Moyes later admitted that after seeing the replay, it looked worse than he initially thought.
“At the time, I thought it was a brilliant tackle for the derby game,” Moyes said. “But since I’ve come back in and seen replays, I think we were lucky he didn’t get a red because it looked high.”
Liverpool manager Arne Slot didn’t see any problem with the goal, saying the rules were followed correctly. He understood why Moyes might be upset but felt the referee made the right call.
“It was nice to see,” Slot said. “According to the rules, it was a goal, so no one can complain about that. There’re always question marks with a goal, but the good thing is we have rules, and the rules tell us it’s a clear goal.”
When asked about Tarkowski’s challenge, Slot didn’t want to add much, saying: “Everybody has said something about it, so why should I add to it? It’s so obvious that it’s not necessary for me to comment.”
With this victory, Liverpool maintained their position at the top of the table, getting closer to securing their 20th league title.
