Can we go just one week in the Premier League without VAR taking centre stage?
Here, on the banks of the River Mersey, with Everton rocking and rolling, Thierno Barry produced a brilliant header from near post to far post to make it 2-0 from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s corner.
The South Stand erupted, just as it had when Ainsley Maitland-Niles salvaged a point against Manchester United last time out here. Barry brought out the dance moves. Then came the dreaded big screen announcement of a VAR check.
Brennan Johnson was stood in front of Ipswich goalkeeper Christian Walton, drafted into the side with No 1 Kjell Scherpen dropped, and that was enough for VAR Andrew Kitchen and referee Stuart Atwell to rule it out.
Johnson was stood in an offside position, that much was correct. But to defiantly say he was interfering with Walton’s ability to make the save is not. Walton had hedged to his left as the ball flew into the other corner, way out of his reach, regardless of the Welshman stood on his toes.
‘The word used was affected his ability to save it which I don’t think was the case,’ David Moyes said.
Everton were relieved to see out a win against Ipswich Town which VAR almost ruined
Thierno Barry’s near post header was flicked impressively in at the far post to make it 2-0
Brennan Johnson (left) was stood offside but was adjudged to be impeding the goalkeeper
‘It is difficult for referees. Do I think we will get consistency through the season? I doubt it. The goalkeeper would not have saved the header.’
It is hard to escape the feeling that last week’s mishandling of the Manchester derby in which Enzo Fernandez was clearly interfering moments before Erling Haaland converted the match-winning goal had played a role in the rush to chalk this one off.
‘Everton No.22 is in an offside position,’ Atwell announced in the stadium. ‘He impacts the goalkeeper’s ability to save the ball. My final decision is indirect free-kick.’
Even at the final whistle, with Barry’s fortuitous first-half goal, which saw him deflect James Tarkowski’s long-range strike in off his chest, the difference between the sides, the boos for Atwell and his assistants was as loud as anything else.
‘I don’t understand why the [second] goal was offside because the goalkeeper can do nothing [to prevent] the goal,’ Barry said afterwards.
Everton are up to fifth, still unbeaten, dreaming of Europe, but still find themselves asking: why is VAR in such a rush to chalk off goals?
BARRY STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS
Barry finished with one, was denied what looked a legitimate second, and in the eyes of his manager, really should have walked away with a hat-trick after spurning a glorious header in the first half which had him sunk to his knees when it whistled past the post.
Barry is a fascinating player to watch. So many of the fundamentals are there. He works hard. Always finds himself in scoring positions. He is also one of only two Premier League players to score five or more goals in all competitions this season alongside Erling Haaland (six). Not bad company to keep.
But those inside the dressing room feel like they haven’t even scratched the surface when it comes to the 23-year-old.
‘Coming in to the Premier League for the first time as a striker isn’t easy,’ Moyes said.
Barry is a fascinating project to study – and those inside Everton believe lots more is to come
‘We took a bit of a risk at the time, a young striker and we thought ‘here we go, we’ll have a go with it’.
‘He’s got an awful lot of good attributes. But we want him to score! My goodness, with the opportunities you could have scored, should have scored his header today which would have made it 2-0.
‘He works really hard, he tries, he’s still settling in but he’s doing a good job.’
It’s hard to root against Barry. His smile lights up a stadium and while he can look so raw in moments and so finessed in others, it’s easy to see why team-mates are quick to jump to his defence at the first sign of criticism.
‘He works hard and the goals will come from working hard,’ Jordan Pickford said of his striker.
‘The first year in the Premier League is always tough, he has found his feet and he has started a lot better this year.’
Golden boot? Steady on. But lots more is to come from Barry, that’s for sure.
BRAVE O’NEIL WILL BE REWARDED
It is testament to the culture Gary O’Neil is trying to build as Ipswich Town boss that even when down to 10 men – Abdul Fatawu has a lot of apologies to make to his team-mates and manager after picking up a second yellow card for diving – he went full throttle to score.
On came strikers Chuba Akpom and Zian Flemming and there Ipswich pushed, now in a 4-3-2 shape, willing to risk conceding that sucker-punch second goal.
O’Neil was brave, too, to drop his No 1 goalkeeper, a summer recruit from Belgium that arrived to great acclaim. He had had chances and hadn’t taken them. ‘Form’ Next man up.
This was by no means a disaster for Ipswich, who managed to create genuine anxiety in the ranks of Everton fans, and they head back to Suffolk with plenty to ponder.
They have technicians in the middle of the park, attacking full-backs and enough artillery in attacking areas to cause plenty of teams problems.
But pretty football, as they showed on numerous occasions here, only counts for so much if you aren’t going to put the ball in the back of the net.
Gary O’Neil was bold, even when down to 10 men, and that will pay off in the longer term
‘We have to punish teams like they punish us when they get the opportunity,’ defender Leif Davis said.
‘When we went to 10 men I think we were the better team. We’re a hard team to play against and, while we were beaten, there are a lot of positives to take.’
His manager was also of the mind that his team deserved more than they got.
‘I thought we had a good go today and the result is harsh on the lads,’ O’Neil said.
‘We restricted Everton to not very much. Really unlucky with the goal, played some good stuff but lacked quality when we got in front of goal.
‘If we keep playing like that, we will give teams a game every week and we just need to keep repeating that.’
