Everton secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Ipswich Town at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, a win overshadowed by a controversial offside decision that denied Thierno Barry a second goal. The result keeps David Moyes's side seventh in the Premier League with nine points from their opening five matches.
Barry had given Everton the lead in the 11th minute, finishing from a James Tarkowski assist. Later in the game, the forward thought he had doubled the advantage, only for referee Stuart Attwell, with VAR assistance, to rule the effort out for offside. The Premier League later issued a statement explaining the decision, which has since been strongly contested.
Former FIFA referee Keith Hackett has completely rejected the league's justification. Hackett argued that the player in an offside position did not impact the goalkeeper's ability to make a save. "I do not believe that this goal should have been ruled out," Hackett said. "My judgement is that whilst there is a player in an offside position, he has not interfered or impacted on the goalkeeper, who frankly should have moved to his right to make an attempt to make a save."
Manager David Moyes expressed his ongoing frustration with officiating consistency, referencing other high-profile decisions this season. The Everton boss suggested a perceived bias towards the league's traditional 'big six' clubs and stated he would have been far angrier if Ipswich had snatched a late equaliser. This incident adds to a growing list of refereeing complaints from Goodison Park last season.
The three points from Barry's first-half strike extend Everton's unbeaten start to the campaign to five games, with a record of two wins and three draws. Their next test is a trip to face Hull City, who sit one place below them in eighth, on October 11. The full schedule for that busy period is available on our fixtures list.
This story first appeared at sports.yahoo.com
