Everton have came away from Upton Park with three points following a controversial 2-1 victory over West Ham.
The talking points of the game all revolve around an inept refereeing performance which resulted in a disallowed early header from Leon Osman and a second half sending off for Carlton Cole as the referee deemed him to have committed a reckless challenge on Leighton Baines – only for Gibson to be sent off late on for the same reason.
I´ll run over the goals quickly, as they´re a sub-story today. West Ham took the lead when Heitinga allowed Cole too much space on the edge of the box and he fired home low beyond Howard.
Everton equalised in the second half as Anichebe got his head to a floated Pienaar cross to the penalty spot and diverted it beyond Jaaskelainen. The winner followed shortly afterwards as Osman pulled back for Pienaar to tap in at the near post.
But that doesn´t tell the story. Everton could have taken a one goal lead if a perfectly good Leon Osman header had stood in the first half. But it was bizarrely chalked off as the linesman deemed Anichebe had fouled Jaaskelainen.
If that had occurred, West Ham probably wouldn´t have went up the other end and scored a minute later.
Not only that, if Cole hadn´t been sent off for absolutely nothing, then Everton may not have had the space and impetus to move forward to get the winner.
If the referee hadn´t balled up with that decision, then he wouldn´t have sent of Gibson for nothing in a bizarre attempt to even things up.
In short, the entire game was dictated by the ineptitude of the officials, so there´s little point talking about much else. The only miracle is that we came away from it with three points, but that doesn´t mean we can´t be disgusted at the officials.
If the Premier League doesn´t shape up and act, the Premier League is in danger of becoming a laughing stock. All we ask is that the men in black do their job and apply the rules.
As it stands, we go into our next game without two of our key players in Fellaini and Gibson, both because officials can´t do their jobs and apply the rules. If the ref blows up on Shawcross for shirt pulling and holding, Fellaini doesn´t react.
Referees are ruining this league. It needs to stop. Now.