James Garner frustrated by refereeing decisions and Man City goal Everton 'knew was coming'
James Garner was speaking following Everton's 3-1 Premier League defeat to Man City
James Garner has spoken of his frustration that decisions continue to go against his side and described Everton’s upcoming clash against Wolverhampton Wanderers as a 'must-win'.
The Blues suffered their second consecutive Premier League defeat at the hands of Manchester City on Wednesday night. Second-half goals from Phil Foden, Julian Alvarez and Bernardo Silva cancelled out Jack Harrison’s opener after 29 minutes.
However, Alvarez’s goal came from the penalty spot after Amadou Onana was judged to have handled Nathan Ake’s shot from close range. Blues boss Sean Dyche was dumbfounded by the call to award a penalty.
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It was the second controversial decision to go against the Blues in a matter of days, after Dominic Calvert-Lewin saw a goal against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday chalked off following a VAR review.
And asked if he felt his side was on the wrong end of calls at the moment, Garner replied: “Yeah, we are. Calls just ain't going our way at the moment, but I have not seen the penalty, to be honest with you, so I don’t really want to comment on that.
“But things just ain’t going our way at the moment, but that is just football."
Before he added: “Especially against the opposition we are playing, Tottenham, who are one of the best teams, and City, who are arguably the best team in the world at the moment.
“Like I say, I thought we were in the game for large amounts of it, and when decisions don’t quite go in your favour, it is a tough one."
Reflecting on his side’s display at Goodison, Garner said: “It was a tough result considering I felt we played really well in the first-half.
“I am not sure what happened in the second-half, whether we came away from our game plan or they just upped the ante a little bit. It is a disappointing result.
“We were in the game for quite large amounts of it. The penalty was the penalty, and the other two goals were goals we should have never conceded.
“The third one was an error, and the second one was one we worked on on the training ground yesterday, and we knew that was coming.
“I’m not sure what happened, but it was sloppy from us because, like I say, we knew it was coming."
Next up for the Blues is a trip to Molineux to take on high-flying Wolves. Gary O’Neil’s side have won their last two matches, the most recent being a 4-1 victory over Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Everton, on the other hand, will head to the Midlands just one point above the drop zone after Luton Town picked up consecutive victories over Christmas. And Garner admits the clash is a must-win for his side after successive league defeats.
He said: “It is massive. Going into that game, like you said, the bottom half of the table is quite close now, so every game counts and matters. That will be a must-win."