Liverpool vs Everton: Mark Clattenberg gives his verdict on refereeing decisions

Liverpool moved back to within one point of Manchester City yesterday with a 2-0 victory over Everton.

It was a feisty affair, even by Merseyside derby standards, with Liverpool hunting the league leaders and Everton fighting for their survival, neither team wanted to be on the wrong end of the result.

From Everton’s perspective, they were well aware that they were playing the form team in Europe and playing expansively would be a recipe for disaster.

For that reason Frank Lampard set-up his team the way any sane manager would, batten down the hatches, sit deep and make it a brawl.

An objective which they succeeded in doing for around 62 minutes, until Andy Robertson finally eased Liverpool’s frustration with his first goal at the Kop end.

By the time the 90 minutes was up Everton had averaged just 17% possession – the second lowest figure set by a Premier League team ever – and had completed fewer passes than Thiago alone.

However, that doesn’t mean the Toffees didn’t get any joy.

Their lively youngster Anthony Gordon went down in the box on two occasions, whilst their combative style nearly angered Sadio Mane into what some would deem foul play – both occasions forced Stuart Atwell to make controversial calls that have angered Evertonians.

Was the referee correct, though? That’s exactly what former senior referee Mark Clattenberg set out to clarify in his column with the Daily Mail.

On Gordon:

“Unfortunately, Everton’s Anthony Gordon is in danger of picking up a reputation for trying to con referees and that won’t help him in his career.” He wrote in his Sportsmail column.  

“He tried to fool Stuart Attwell into thinking Naby Keita had fouled him in the box when he hadn’t. 

“It was an obvious dive and, with