Chelsea beat Everton 2-0 but were lucky to keep 11 men, according to one former referee.
Former referee Mike Dean has backed Everton manager David Moyes after he complained about the refereeing in their 2-0 defeat to Chelsea.
Moyes expressed his displeasure at Harrison Armstrong’s yellow card for a tackle on Josh Acheampong and questioned whether Morgan Rodgers received a second booking for a hard challenge on James Garner.
The Sweets, unbeaten in their first eight matches of the campaign, suffered their first defeat as Pedro Neto scored twice in the 46th and 90th minutes.
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Visiting goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was overshadowed as he was carried off on a stretcher and underwent surgery for a fractured jaw after a collision with Jarrad Branthwaite.
Everton’s young midfielder Armstrong was shown the first of seven yellow cards in the heated affair, although many home supporters believed the tackle was legal, with Moyes publicly disputing his judgment on the player.
Moyes said: “I don’t know if our football in this country won’t let them. We have referees who want to be the best in Europe or think they are the best because they let things go.”
He continued: “I thought it seemed like a semi-decent solution. Maybe someone can tell me I’m wrong or something, but I wasn’t sure it was the right decision.
“I was disappointed with the decision at the time. I watched a little bit of Morgan Rogers’ fight with Jimmy. [Garner]it might have been said differently by some and I think it could have led to a second yellow, it wasn’t.”
Former Premier League referee Dean gave his views as pundit on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday: “I think it’s a minimum yellow. I called the red straight away.
“When you see the angle we’re seeing now, he doesn’t catch the ball, Rogers. He could have just spun it, but he catches it with his pole on the inside of Garner’s knee.
“I think it’s plain red me, really. I don’t think it’s a good fight at all.”