In an exclusive interview with Football Insider, Ex-Premier League referee and FIFA Official, Keith Hackett claimed that both Everton and Crystal Palace should be punished after players from both sides got into multiple heated confrontations, claiming that neither side controlled their players to an adequate standard.
The tensions going into the toffee’s fixture against Crystal Palace were already high, with the blues losing their last 3 Premier League games in a row. The return of Dominic Calvert-Lewin gave Frank Lampard’s side a boost going into the game and considering the effect the Englishman had in their last fixture against Crystal Palace, the expectations on the striker’s shoulders were very high.
He would open the scoring inside 11 minutes, taking the ball past Marc Guehi with ease and firing into the bottom corner. Anthony Gordon would then double the blue’s lead after a delightful move, with Dwight McNeil adding a third late on to seal an impressive victory at Goodison for the toffees.
Although the game overall would feel like plain sailing for Lampard’s side, tension during the match would spill over on a couple of occasions, sparking multiple debates in the media after full-time.
Just minutes after Anthony Gordon doubled Everton’s advantage in the game, Wilfred Zaha barged into Gordon off the ball out of frustration, earning himself a deserved yellow card.
Conor Coady and Seamus Coleman confronted Zaha straight after the incident, looking to back up their teammate.
Ex-Premier League referee, Keither Hackett was obviously not best pleased with all of the happenings during the game. He did an exclusive interview with Football Insider after the game, sharing his thoughts on the audial [via Football Insider]:
“Ultimately, at the end of the day, it was a mass confrontation of players and that is bad for the image of the game and bad for the image of the Premier League”
Hackett added:
“Therefore, both clubs should be charged for failing to control their players. The outcome of those charges are invariably are fines.”
“In my day, the Premier League brought in a maximum fine of £250,000 for a mass confrontation. Although, they’ve never fined anybody £250,000. I had the Man United-Arsenal game [in 1990], the battle of Old Trafford, and at that point they deducted points.”
“Deducted points worked as a deterrent, it sent a massive message.”
Although the Premier League might choose to punish clubs for sparking heated conflict during matches as it puts a ‘bad light’ on the league as a whole, the idea that clubs should be deducted points for their players showing passion is quite frankly ludicrous.
As much as violence should not be endorsed in the modern game, rules must be put in place that stop physical violence of most sorts against opposition players but set a particular way so that they do not prohibit players from ‘having the back’ of their teammates like Coady and Coleman were doing in this example.
Time for you to retire Keith!
Never read anything so ridiculous since ex ref Gallagher’s last comments about an EFC decision.
It’s football. It’s passionate. Nobody was punched or hurt.
If anyone should face a sanction, it was the totally incompetent referee , not just his bad calls, but on at least two occasions he clearly did not know the rules.
It’s a pity that Keith Hackett didn’t also comment on the inconsistency in the refereeing during that match, all of which adds to the tension in the game.