‘We’ve been let down by the officials’ – Liverpool boss Beard reacts to Merseyside derby defeat | OneFootball

Liverpool manager Matt Beard was critical of the officials after his side fell to a 1-0 Merseyside derby defeat to Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon.

Katja Snoeijs’ first half penalty was enough to separate the two sides in a keenly-contest derby clash.

Everton were awarded their penalty when Fuka Nagano fouled Honoka Hayashi. Referee Abigail Byrne determined that contact had been made inside the box but replays clearly showed that the incident took place outside of the area.

When speaking in the post-match press conference, Liverpool boss Beard vented his frustration.

“It’s frustrating,” Beard said. “My players didn’t deserve to be on the losing end of that game today, 100 percent. We need to do better when we’re getting these opportunities; I think we’ve had 17 shots today and got nothing from it.”

Going on to discuss the penalty decision further, Beard said that his side had been let down by the officials.

He said “It wasn’t a penalty, that’s it. It changes the complete complexity of the game. I just give up with it to be honest with you because it happens every week, not just with us. It’s cost us the game today, I just feel we’ve been let down by the officials. I feel we should have had two penalties and we’ve had one given against us that wasn’t a penalty.”

The Reds have won just two of their eight league matches during this campaign while they are without a league victory at Everton since September 2017. Beard said that injuries have not helped his side’s recent form, although Liverpool had chances to get something from Goodison Park.

He said “Of course, it’s been a disappointing start. It’s been a disjointed season and losing players, it keeps happening.

“We should have got something out of the game today, we had some really good chances to equalise and we’ve not taken them, so that’s on us.”

Liverpool are next in action on Sunday when they travel to Newcastle United for a Women’s League Cup group stage fixture.