Gary Neville asked if Calvert-Lewin dived for Everton penalty; labels Lovren naive

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Everton bagged a 1-1 draw against Liverpool thanks to a late penalty after a clash between Dejan Lovren and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Gary Neville has told Sky Sports’ live post-match coverage of Liverpool’s Premier League clash with Everton (broadcast on 10th December 2017 from 14:15) that he thought the penalty that the Toffees were given during the Merseyside derby was soft, but still criticised Dejan Lovren for being naive.

Sam Allardyce’s men took home a point from Anfield in real smash and grab fashion. The Reds had dominated the game and got their rewards when Mo Salah scored just before the break with a brilliant effort.

Everton bagged an unlikely draw when Wayne Rooney’s great pass found Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The Toffees forward then went to ground after a clash with Lovren inside the penalty area – prompting the referee to give a spot-kick that Rooney converted for the equaliser.

And after the game, Neville suggested that while the penalty was extremely soft and perhaps dubious, Lovren still made a mistake by raising his arms as he made contact with the forward.

“It’s soft, the penalty. Lovren’s complaining at the end, he’s whinging at the referee but I always think if you give the referee a chance and he did, and it’s just those hands, and it’s naive from Lovren, it’s naive. I think that Calvert-Lewin knows exactly what he’s doing. It is a soft penalty,” he told Sky Sports’ live post-match coverage of the derby draw.

“He’s gone down for it, he’s played for it,” he said when asked whether he thought Calvert-Lewin had dived.

“Absolutely, he has [played for it]. But I think Lovren’s experienced enough to know what’s going to happen there. It’s not as if it’s his first game in football. I think Liverpool have only got themselves to blame.”

Allardyce may well be delighted with the result as it appeared to be a game plan to try and soak up the pressure that came from Liverpool’s irresistible forward line – while Jurgen Klopp will surely be disappointed with his centre-back as, while the contact was certainly minimal and Calvert-Lewin appeared to halt his run ever so slightly to ensure that there was a collision, Lovren undoubtedly made a mistake.

The draw leaves Liverpool fourth in the table, while Everton go back into 10th place, leaping back above Southampton who drew with Arsenal earlier in the day.