Seamus Coleman spoke of Everton’s resilience after they were reduced to 10 men late in the second half but held on to earn an FA Cup Third Round replay against Crystal Palace but he expressed his frustration at the staggering decision by the officials to send Dominic Calvert-Lewin off.
The striker won the ball off Nathaniel Clyne on the slide in the 79th minute of the goalless clash at Selhurst Park but, while referee Chris Kavanagh was happy to allow play to continue, Video Assistant Referee, Craig Pawson, advised him to hold up play to review an incident on the monitor that he deemed to be serious foul play.
Kavanagh upheld Pawson’s decision and showed Calvert-Lewin the first red card of his career which has stunned fans, pundits and commentators alike.
“Listen, when you slow it down, it’s obviously going to look a bit worse,” Coleman said in a post-match interview with ITV Sport. “From where I was, it was a great tackle and I’ve seen the replay afterwards.
“I don’t know who the fingers need to be pointed at because as soon as the referee goes over there [to the monitor] you know he’s going to give a red card.
“It’s been a big talking point and, for me, that’s not a red card and maybe a decision that goes against us that probably won’t get talked about too much.”
Coleman was pleased with the way his team-mates dug in, though, to keep the game goalless over the remaining 20 minutes of action in which the Toffees almost grabbed a winner but James Garner and Jack Harrson spurned decent chances.
“[It was a test of our resilience] to the say the least,” the skipper said. “Coming away here, it’s always a great atmosphere. I love coming down to play Crystal Palace.
“It was a tough game and, obviously, going down to 10 men made it that much more difficult but our resilience this year has been much better and I didn’t feel like we were going to concede. We stuck together and that’s important.”