Everton succumbed to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of newly-promoted Sheffield United last weekend.
The Toffees’ start to the season hasn’t quite been what they would have hoped for and the defeat last weekend would have been a serious blow to their confidence. Yerry Mina’s own goal put the Blades ahead at the break but Jordan Pickford was adamant that the goal should have been disallowed due to a foul on him by Callum Robinson.
He said: “I thought it was a foul straight away but then I thought VAR was going to help me,” says Pickford.
“But then I thought ‘if VAR wasn’t there, would the ref have blown for a foul?’ I thought it was a foul but you reflect and think ‘could I be stronger?’ But I’ve watched the video back and I thought it was a foul because one second my arm’s there ready for the punch, the next thing it’s been dragged because my body’s been barged.”
Robinson certainly obstructed Pickford’s jump which gave the Englishman no chance to make contact with the ball. Mina had little time to react which led him to slot the ball into his own net.
The 25-year-old claimed that the result could have been completely different had the goal been disallowed and urged the governing body to tweak the rules of VAR to make it similar to cricket.
“The game could be 0-0 at half-time, we build momentum and the result’s different. Why don’t we just do it like cricket? You have two reviews in tests; I don’t think that’s a bad idea. If we think it was a foul we can review it,” said Pickford.
Pickford and his side have a tougher test this weekend when Manchester City come to Goodison Park. The defending champions have scored 14 goals in their last three games in all competitions and Everton’s number one will have to have an incredible game to stop them from adding to that tally.
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