‘We’ve been let down’ – Beard blames officials for Liverpool Women’s loss v Everton Women
Matt Beard couldn’t help but vent his frustrations at the officials after his Liverpool Women’s side lost the Merseyside derby 1-0 against Everton Women.
Fuka Nagano was deemed to have infringed Honoka Hayashi inside the penalty area in the closing stages of the first half, with Katja Snoeijs stepping up to convert the winning goal at Goodison Park.
However, the replays show the foul took place outside the area, and Beard, in his post-match press conference, blamed referee Abigail Byrne for costing his side the match on Sunday [17 November].
He said: “It wasn’t a penalty, that’s it. It changes the complete complexity of the game.
“I just give up with it to be honest with you because it happens every week, not just with us. It’s cost us the game today, I just feel we’ve been let down by the officials.
“I feel we should have had two penalties and we’ve had one given against us that wasn’t a penalty.”
Liverpool Women rue wasted chances again v Everton
It is clear as day that the foul on Hayashi was outside of the penalty area, but Liverpool, outside of this contentious decision, were still not good enough to claim the three points in the Merseyside derby.
Everton were at the bottom of the Women’s Super League heading into Sunday’s clash, and while Beard warned his side that “form goes out the window” in derbies, the players evidently did not heed the warning.
On too many occasions this season, the boss has publicly berated his side for failing to convert chances in the WSL, and the side was culpable yet again at Goodison Park.
Nagano had a golden chance to tie the match and atone for her error, but Courtney Brosnan thwarted both the Japanese international’s attempts on goal.
Mia Enderby’s strike went wide when Cornelia Kapocs found her unmarked in the penalty area, and Gemma Bonner’s one-on-one opportunity went straight at Brosnan.
Furthermore, Sara Holmgaard threw Ceri Holland to the ground in the box, which the referee dismissed in a stonewall penalty shout for the visitors.
Regardless, Liverpool’s performance was disappointing, and not only will Everton now have bragging rights on Merseyside, but Brian Sorensen’s momentum-boosting result could see the Blues revive their WSL campaign at the Reds’ expense.
In other Liverpool news, an injury update on Federico Chiesa has emerged for the Reds ahead of the clash against Southampton.
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