Tuesday 20 December 2016 00:00, UK
Ronald Koeman admits Ross Barkley may have been lucky to avoid being sent off during Everton's 1-0 defeat by Liverpool, but did think Dejan Lovren should have seen red.
Barkley was booked for a rash lunge on Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson in the second half at Goodison Park, which resulted in a melee between the two Merseyside rivals.
Koeman, who saw his own player Coleman booked in the process, believes that Lovren was the man who started the altercation and should have been shown a second yellow by referee Mike Dean.
"Yes, maybe [Barkley] was lucky," Koeman told Sky Sports. "I need to see the [challenge again] because maybe it's a red card. But after that happens the players, including Coleman, were reacting, but the reaction was started by Lovren and not by Everton players.
"I've no problem with the eight minutes [of stoppage time] because it took a long time to change our goalkeeper. But if I can say something about the referee, which I don't like to do because I think he did it perfectly [otherwise], but why he gave Coleman a yellow and not Lovren I don't know.
"Everybody is reacting after [Barkley's challenge] and it was started by Lovren and he already had a yellow. That's the difference for the referee and that's what I don't like."
Sadio Mane scored Liverpool's winner in the 94th minute when he reacted quickest after substitute Daniel Sturridge's shot rebounded off the post, and Koeman believes his side did not deserve to be beaten.
"It was a very good team performance," he said. "I think maybe it was the best first 45 minutes [since I arrived]. We were very aggressive and we had a big chance from [Ramiro Funes Mori's] header.
"We made it very difficult and of course in the second half we had it more difficult, but the substitutes of Liverpool had a big impact on the final result.
"We did everything we could. We didn't keep the ball second half as well as we did in the first, but the team didn't deserve to lose the game because of the team performance.
"They have a really strong team and it was difficult in the second half, but in life you don't always get what you deserve on the night."
