Fans of almost every club will feel that, at some point during their history, they have been dealt real injustice regarding refereeing decisions, with Everton being no different.
Having often been denied obvious penalty calls, whilst being on the end of torrid decisions against them, Evertonians have rightly built up quite the bank of officiating blunders in recent history.
And yet, it always seems to be the so-called ‘Big Six’ who feel most aggrieved, with their displeasure often plastered across mainstream media.
The Toffees were nearly relegated during the 2021/22 season, and yet there was little uproar regarding Rodri’s blatant handball which did not warrant a penalty.
Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta has kicked up an almighty fuss following his side’s loss to Newcastle United on Saturday, calling the decision to award the only goal of the game ‘embarrassing’ and ‘disgraceful’.
With the ball not fully over the line, and then a potential foul from Joelinton too, there was plenty for the Spaniard to be frustrated with.
And yet, Everton suffered a similar fate in 2016, as they were knocked out of the EFL Cup by Manchester City in controversial fashion. Roberto Martinez was not so forthcoming.
What happened to Everton vs Manchester City in 2016?
Having won the first leg of the semi-finals 2-1, they took a slender lead to the Etihad, which they extended after just 18 minutes through Ross Barkley’s wonderful solo effort.
Seemingly on their way to Wembley, it had been a resolute showing from Martinez’s Toffees, who had held on well despite Fernandinho’s equaliser just less than ten minutes later.
However, the crushing blow was dealt after 70 minutes, as Raheem Sterling took towards the byline before cutting a cross back for Kevin De Bruyne to finish.
The goal seemed perfectly fine on the surface, were it not for John Stones’ animated certainty that the ball had crossed the line before being passed back for the Belgian.
With no VAR, the goal would stand, and yet there has since been conclusive proof to reveal the ball was close to a metre out of play.
Robbed of a trip to Wembley to face their Merseyside rivals in the final, which would have been the first time returning to the stadium since 2009, there was little said in the media about such a huge event for Everton.
BBC Sport would even remain uncertain on a decision that was so clearly wrong, writing in their match report: ‘Sterling appeared to have run the ball out of play before crossing for De Bruyne…’.
Little was said about an incident that was arguably even worse than Arsenal’s in the context of the two matches, yet it is the modern-day example which Sky Sports have forensically analysed relentlessly.
Perhaps this marks a lesson for Everton to stop being the nice guys in the Premier League and start sticking up for injustice. The better teams are so quick to vocalise their frustrations with little punishment, so there is no reason why they should not too.
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