Jack Grealish refused to hold his tongue on the quality of officiating during the Merseyside derby, after Everton suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of arch rivals Liverpool at Anfield.
Jack Grealish has admitted that he grew frustrated with the officials during Saturday’s Merseyside derby contest between Liverpool and Everton. Despite their best efforts, the Toffees walked away from the clash empty-handed in a narrow 2-1 loss at Anfield.
Ryan Gravenberch opened the scoring for the Reds in the 10th minute of the game, connecting with Mohamed Salah’s through ball, on the volley, to beat Jordan Pickford. Hugo Ekitike then doubled down in the 29th minute, before Everton pulled one back through Idrissa Gueye after 58 minutes played.
And Grealish has explained where it all went wrong for Everton on the day. Speaking about the atmosphere at Anfield in conversation with TNT Sports, he said: “It was what I expected, coming here it was hostile, faster.
READ MORE: Jack Grealish furiously hits out at referee for two reasons after Liverpool loss – ‘Come on’READ MORE: Jack Grealish furiously confronts referee after Liverpool loss as Jordan Pickford steps in
“I don’t think we played well in the first-half, we came in a half-time and had a chat with the manager and then second half, we lost the game in the second half.
“It’s frustrating because if we had played like that, pressed like that from the start it would have been a different game. In the end we couldn’t get that last goal.”
He added: “It was a bit frustrating in the second half, because they were trying to slow the game down, at times. I’ve never seen a player in my whole life get booked for taking a quick free-kick!
“I don’t know where that rule has come in. Even the stoppage time, what was it, three minutes and one minute? Come on, I’ve never seen that in the Premier League in the last two or three years.”
When he was then asked if there were a few frustrations with the officials, Grealish added: “Yeah, of course. Listen, I get sometimes you want to let the game go. But then you can’t not give something for us and then, two seconds later, one of their defenders gets touched in the back, goes down and he gives it.
“I’m just like, you can’t do that. I get it, you come to these stadiums and the crowd are on you and I think they feel like they’ve got to give it.
“But like I said, I think Kieran [Dewsbury-Hall] is now on four yellows, he’s only got one more [before a ban] and he gets a yellow today for taking a quick free-kick. We want to get the game going… we’re losing the game. I’ve never heard of that in my life.”
It comes after Dewsbury-Hall controversially found himself booked by Darren England in the 78th minute of the game for taking a free-kick before the whistle had been sounded, eager to clinch an equaliser with little time remaining on the clock. Grealish also found himself booked after the full-time whistle had been blown – after he approached the officials to confront them about their in-game decisions – before he was moved away by Pickford.
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