Everton formally complain against referee after controversial penalty decision in 2-0 derby loss

While they eventually lost the derby 2-0, Everton were denied a possible penalty in their game against Liverpool at Anfield. They have now taken the matter to the Professional Game Match Officials Board, launching a complaint against the referee, Stuart Attwell. 

Their forward, Anthony Gordon, was brought down in the penalty area by Joel Matip. And instead of awarding a penalty, the referee reached into his pocket and showed the youngster a yellow card for diving. There was seemingly no VAR check for the incident during the game either. 

Everton complain against Stuart Attwell after controversial penalty decision 

Frank Lampard blamed the official in his post-match interview as well, and has been asked to explain his comments by the FA as a result: 

‘It was a penalty. If that was Mo Salah at the other end, he gets a penalty.

‘You don’t get them here (Anfield). That’s the reality of football sometimes.

‘If you look back with that on VAR, there’s questionable things going on, maybe that’s to be expected when you come here.’ 

This is the second time that Everton have been on the end of poor officiating. They were sent an apology by the PGMOB after the incident involving Rodri of Manchester City. The midfielder clearly handled the ball, but neither the match referee nor VAR awarded them a spot kick. 

To make things worse for the club, they are now in the relegation zone with six games to play and two points away from safety.