Sean Dyche slams refereeing after Konate controversy

Everton manager Sean Dyche was left baffled by the fact Ibrahima Konate wasn't sent off as his side lost 2-0 to Liverpool in Saturday's Merseyside derby.

Dyche had seen one of his own players, in full-back Ashley Young, sent off in the first half after picking up two yellow cards.

However, when already-booked Ibrahima Konate collided with Blues striker Beto as the visitors were looking to break, referee Craig Pawson failed to show the Frenchman a second yellow of his own.

“I'll be amazed if there's anyone out there who thinks that wasn't a yellow," Dyche said in his post-match press conference.

“Especially in the modern game, let’s have it right, you can touch someone on the shoulder and the legs buckle and you get a penalty or a yellow or whatever the moment is.

“It's just bizarre to me, that. Some of the decisions that were bookings, and then Konate's is not, that’s baffling.”

With the game still goalless at the time, Jurgen Klopp withdrew Konate moments after the foul, replacing him with Joel Matip - an indication that even the Reds manager knew his side had got away with one.

Dyche added: “Their manager, fair play to him, he took [Konate] off as quickly as he could after that.

"He’s realised they've got away with one there, I imagine. He couldn’t wait to get him off."

After the match, Klopp was willing to admit that the decision could have gone either way, and that if his side had gone down to 10 men, not many would have questioned it.

“Ibrahima could have gone, yes," the Liverpool manager said.

"It could have happened obviously and then we took him off and from that moment we were solid and compact.”

Liverpool went on to score two goals in the final half an hour of the game, with a Mohamed Salah brace sealing the points in the 243rd Merseyside derby.

And while, yes, Konate's dismissal definitely could have changed the course of the game, it's nice for us to have the shoe on the other foot for a change when it comes to questionable refereeing decisions.