Everton manager David Moyes was left unimpressed by UEFA’s trial of goalline assistants despite his side’s resounding 4-0 Europa League win over AEK Athens at Goodison Park.
Moyes was incensed by the dismissal of striker Louis Saha in injury time after a tangle with AEK’s Juanfran. Saha went for flapping an arm at Juanfran, but Moyes was angry that the extra officials did not spot what he believed to be a deliberate foul on his player. “It was disappointing. It was a ridiculous kick the boy has on Louis before he got sent off,” he told reporters. “It is amazing that the officials see the small arm but don’t see the e big kick — even with the extra officials.” UEFA announced at the start of the campaign that they would be using the second-tier Europa League to experiment with the use of extra assistants. The referee can now call on the help of his two traditional linesmen with two officials patrolling behind the goallines at each end.
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If successful the format could be extended to the Champions League and major European leagues, but Scot Moyes is yet to be convinced. “They were looking for something. But if they did they initially got it wrong, and not to see the kick in the box was really poor. “We need to do everything we can to help the referees — but if he was helped in the Louis Saha case then I think he was wrong.” Moyes, whose side have made an indifferent start to the English Premier League campaign, was more impressed by his new Russian signing Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, who set up their first two goals for Joseph Yobo and Sylvain Distin with corners. Steven Pienaar added a third before the interval with Jo scoring a late fourth.
