Everton

Everton: Footage shows Sterling dive in lead-up to goal at Goodison Park

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Image for Everton: Footage shows Sterling dive in lead-up to goal at Goodison Park

Everton fans will be furious having seen footage of a potential dive from Raheem Sterling in their opening day defeat on Saturday. 

Frank Lampard’s men saw his former side arrive at Goodison Park and it was Chelsea who took the points back to west London after prevailing in a narrow 1-0 victory.

However, there was controversy in the lead-up to the penalty decision which saw Jorginho provide Chelsea with the lead and ultimately all three points.

Footage shared online shows an alleged dive from Sterling that was deemed worthy of a free kick for the visiting side by referee Craig Pawson.

But the free kick then saw Chelsea march into Everton’s box before Abdoulaye Doucoure brought down Ben Chilwell, who was bearing down on Jordan Pickford’s goal.

TIF Thoughts on the footage…

There definitely seems to be a case for the Everton fans to be furious with this decision, with the Chelsea signing seemingly already on his way to the ground before James Tarkowski even goes in for the ball.

Was this a clear dive by Sterling?

Yes

Yes

No

No

So had Pawson realised this and allowed play to go on or even stopped play to award Sterling with a yellow card, the resulting goal would have been avoided.

However, that said, there should be some frustration from the Goodison faithful towards their defending in the lead-up to the penalty decision, with one ball breaking their lines to find Chilwell free inside the box.

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