Iconic Premier League club Everton is in a fight for their lives in the top flight of English football coming into the final weekend of action in the 2021-22 season, and at the time of writing are hosting Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace at Goodison Park with anything less than a win subjecting the Toffees to a final day of action on Sunday that could consign them to relegation.
But Everton fans will undoubtedly feel aggrieved after Eagles forward Jordan Ayew escaped serious punishment after a reckless challenge on academy graduate Anthony Gordon right next to both dugouts during the first half of play.
VAR: “Yep, that seems fine, played the ball. Besides, I’m sure Ayew won’t have too much impact on the game in the next few minutes. Anyway, pint?” pic.twitter.com/rG2eHodIrg
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) May 19, 2022
Ayew was seen to hack down Gordon with a scissor motion while contesting possession and made no attempt to win the ball clearly, with players on both sides losing their cool in the resulting scrum.
It could not come at a worse time for Everton given the gravity of the evening, and though the Toffees fought back to 3-2 at the time of writing after Jean-Philippe Mateta and the aforementioned Ayew gave the Eagles a two-goal lead before Michael Keane, Richarlison, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin brought matters square into Everton’s hands, the fact that the Premier League came out in response to state that the tackle was “reckless” but not worthy of a red card once against calls into question the FA and the inconsistent referring standards in the league.
If Ayew was correctly sent off given the video and picture evidence on hand, matters could well be different regardless of the fact that Everton has done incredibly well to fight back when it has mattered most.
With both teams now in stoppage time, it’s clear that Everton found fuel through injustice with their Premier League lives at stake.
