Everton supporters will have been left fuming as footage has emerged from their recent game in the FA Cup.
With Frank Lampard’s men deep in a relegation battle in the Premier League, their only chance of any kind of glory this season would have been to make a run to Wembley and grabbing some silverware, which would have been their first since winning the cup back in 1995.
However, that wasn’t to be the case as they were hammered 4-0 by Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday to bring their run to an end. The game itself was fairly even statistically, with possession shared 52%-48% and Palace having 12 shots and 5 corners to Everton’s 11 shots and 4 corners, so Everton could easily have made a game of it, but the game took a major turn just before half-time.
As footage shows (aired on BBC), Palace forward Wilfried Zaha appeared to take a big swing at the ball with his hand to give the Eagles possession less than a minute before he provided the assist for Jean-Philippe Mateta to put the hosts 2-0 up just before half-time and give the Toffees a tough mountain to climb.
TIF Thoughts on footage of Wilfried Zaha and his apparent handball against Everton…
Was this handball by Zaha?
Yes
No
With the score 1-0 at the time and the game as even as it was, and with Everton presented with a great opportunity to equalise moments before through Richarlison, it’s a moment that arguably changed the course of the game and set the stage for the collapse by the Toffees through the second half.
It has since been revealed (as per The Liverpool Echo) “it was deemed the handball was not deliberate, with Lee Mason the VAR for Sunday afternoon’s match. On-field official Stuart Attwell was not advised to check his pitch-side monitors over the decision.”
However, judging by how ferocious Zaha was with his swing, you could make a very easy case to claim that it was deliberate, so Everton can certainly feel a little hard done by with how important that moment was – and supporters could understandably feel aggrieved themselves.
In other news: Journalist claims Everton 22 y/o now set for bigger role in ‘rest of this season’