Everton head coach David Moyes agrees with VAR and referee Craig Pawson’s decision to rule out Jake O’Brien’s equaliser in his side’s 3-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur at home.
O’Brien had the ball in the back of the net from a corner-kick to cancel out Micky Van de Ven’s opener just six minutes later, but his equaliser was ruled out by VAR after Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye were deemed offside for straying beyond the line of the goalkeeper during the move.
Moyes, while initially disappointed with the referee’s decision, came to agree with it in the aftermath of the contest.
“Well, at the time, I was disappointed because it looked like a good enough header and a good goal but I think, looking at it now, now I’ve seen it after the game, I think Ili is behind the goalkeeper and I think it’s probably seen as an offside goal, just because he’s behind the goalkeeper,” said Moyes.
Moyes and his coaching staff will also be perplexed by the way the Blues’ centre-backs and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford allowed Van de Ven to score twice from corner-kicks. It was the first time that the Toffees’ defence was breached from a set-piece this season, and Van de Ven’s double, followed by a late Pape Matar Sarr goal, brought an end to Everton’s unbeaten run at their new waterfront home.
“We have been undone by set pieces,” Moyes said. “I’m not happy about it, but there were some positives.
“We’ve been very good with set pieces in the main. But Thomas’ teams have always been good, too. We had more corners but they got their head on some and we didn’t. Their goalkeeper punched some and we didn’t.
“It wasn’t for the lack of preparation. It’s not something (conceding) that we are known for. I am disappointed. There are a couple of things we could have done better.”