Jack Grealish Unleashes Explosive Claims Following Crushing Liverpool Defeat: "Never in My Life"
Everton midfielder Jack Grealish criticized referee Darren England for allegedly being influenced by the passionate Anfield atmosphere during Liverpool's 2-1 Merseyside derby triumph on Saturday afternoon, expressing frustration over what he deemed an unusual decision to issue a yellow card for attempting a rapid free kick.
Although Liverpool had battled through an intense Champions League clash against Atlético Madrid just under 65 hours prior, the Reds began the local rivalry match with explosive energy. The increasingly dominant Ryan Gravenberch put the home side ahead after 10 minutes before Hugo Ekitiké extended their lead thirty minutes later.
Everton had barely threatened until that moment before gradually finding their rhythm in the match. Liverpool's midweek European commitments finally took their toll as Idrissa Gana Gueye reduced the gap on 58 minutes with a powerful effort to create a tense finale.
Liverpool held onto the victory but not without some disputed officiating calls—at least from Grealish's perspective. The Manchester City loanee was especially annoyed by the referee's choice to prevent Everton from executing quick free kicks on two occasions, cautioning Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall following the second incident.
"They were clearly attempting to delay the match at certain moments, I've never witnessed a player in my entire career receive a booking for executing a quick free kick," Grealish complained after the game. "I'm unsure where that regulation originated. Even the added time, three minutes then one minute—I haven't observed that in the Premier League over the past two or three seasons.
"There were grievances regarding the referee. Sometimes you want to allow the match to flow, I fully understand that, but you cannot deny us something and then moments later one of their defenders falls after minimal contact to his back and he awards it.
"That's unacceptable. You visit these venues and the supporters pressure them, I believe they [the referees] feel obligated to make those calls. Kiernan now has four yellow cards, and he received one for attempting a quick free kick. We're trying to accelerate the game, we're trailing, and I've never encountered that situation before."
England was overseeing his inaugural Merseyside derby on what marked only his second career assignment at Anfield. Nevertheless, the 39-year-old official from Doncaster had previously angered Liverpool supporters during his last Merseyside appearance, notably brandishing two yellow cards to Gravenberch within eight second-half minutes during a 1-1 stalemate with Crystal Palace last May.
Everton boss David Moyes shared similar displeasure with the officiating. "I believe three minutes [of added time] was quite peculiar," he remarked.
"We've faced several teams who've executed quick free kicks in matches and they've surprised us, but today, every rapid free kick had to be halted and reset for the whistle and then [Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall] received a booking for it."