Everton boss David Moyes could face an FA charge after crticising the performance of referee Mark Clattenburg during Saturday’s Merseyside derby match.
Speaking after his side’s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool, Moyes has hit out at Clattenburg’s performance and questioned his relationship with Rafa Benitez’s side.
The 32-year-old official chose not to award Everton a penalty in the dying seconds after Joleon Lescott appeared to be hauled to the ground by Jamie Carragher.
Clattenburg also chose not to send off Dirk Kuyt after the Dutchman lunged wildly at Phil Neville, and dubiously switched from a yellow to a red card when dealing with Tony Hibbert’s foul on Steven Gerrard.
“They [Liverpool players] were always in there with him and maybe he wants to be friendly with them,” said Moyes. “That is as tough as I have ever had it from a referee, especially in a big game. Just incredible.
Earlier in the season, Liverpool were victim of a poor refereeing decision Rob Styles awarded Chelsea a soft penalty at Anfield. Styles subsequently contacted Benitez in order to apologise to the Spaniard for his costly error.
However, Moyes has revealed that he has no intention of acccepting an apology from Clattenburg.
“Rob Styles phoned Liverpool to apologise over a penalty against Chelsea, but if Clattenburg did the same, I wouldn’t take the call,” he said.
“You wonder whether they allow themselves to be influenced by the top four. Didn’t Clattenburg go to Hong Kong with Liverpool for the Asia Cup this summer? Maybe he wants to be their friend.
“I’ve tried not to talk about referees, but the decisions he has made have cost us,” he added.
“You could have said ‘okay, he got a couple of things wrong’, and I can, but the one in the final second is so blatant that to get that wrong on top of everything else was just incredible.
“I have to question whether you can referee if you don’t see that foul on Joleon Lescott by Jamie Carragher.”
