Roberto admits to frustrations with Moss

Martinez admits Everton were distracted by their grievances with the performance of referee Jon Moss and his officials at The Etihad, and were unable to capitalise on Man City losing captain Vincent Kompany shortly after the half-hour mark.

“We created a very good chance after that when Mirallas went through in the second half,” said the Spaniard.

“Sometimes it's more how patient you are with your build up to isolate the back four.

“I thought we were a little bit frustrated because decisions were not going our way — and our positional play was not at its best.

“So I don't think that allowed us to put the pressure on their back four.”
Tim Howard believes Everton did not enjoy the rub of the green throughout the match from referee Jon Moss and his assistants.

“It was a soft penalty,” said the United States international goalkeeper. “But in the build up to that, City won a corner and it should have been given as a handball by Aguero. It wasn't intentional but it was there for the linesman to see.

“Unfortunately, that leads to bad things. Those calls need to go right. The fact it was down the City end, sometimes referees are influenced by those things. I don't think it was right.

“It was one of those days. On another day, maybe the penalty stays out but it hit me and went in.

“At 2-1 we are still in the game. But once it goes to 3-1, it kills it off. That was always the danger as we had to commit players forward.”

When asked if the penalty decision was one of a few decision to go against Everton, Howard responded: “Only a few?! Both teams would have been a bit upset at times, though. There weren't many good things as far as that was concerned.

“In big games, you need big calls to go your way. Or at least you need a balance. And we didn't get that.”

Quotes or other material sourced from Liverpool Daily Post





About these ads