Ref Watch: Ibrahimovic Offside Goal Call Correct

Man Utd 1-1 Everton - Ibrahimovic offside goal

INCIDENT: With Everton 1-0 ahead, Man Utd striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic heads home in the 71st minute from an Ander Herrera cross, but it is ruled out for offside.

DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct.

DERMOT SAYS: I think it is a really tough call because you look at it and where the line is, it goes through his head effectively, which is what he scored with. You look at one angle and it is 100 per cent right, an excellent decision but at another angle, it looks slightly different and I think that's the trouble.

Unless you have a line straight down the middle of the park, you are just going to have to trust the linesman's judgement.

'Give the advantage to the attacking player' is a great phrase, and then you draw the line across the pitch and the player is offside. Nobody is interested then because they say 'well he's offside'. To me, he is either offside or onside and what the view showed is that the line goes through his head so he is offside.

Man Utd 1-1 Everton - Robles kicking away the ball

INCIDENT: After Ibrahimovic scored the late equalising penalty, Everton goalkeeper Joel Robles kicked the ball away, which would usually be a yellow card offence. He escaped a booking and had already earned a yellow card earlier in the game.

DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct.

DERMOT SAYS: I think what the referee has done here is decided that it wasn't dissent, but it was frustration. He's let a goal in during the last minute, they are hanging on at the end and it's the 93rd minute. I think the referee has told him to calm down and he only has a few seconds left so he should take it easy.

I think if you can diffuse things without using yellow or red cards, it has to be a good thing. The cards have to have significance and mean something.

Man Utd 1-1 Everton - Drop ball situation

INCIDENT: Referee Neil Swarbrick decides on a drop ball for both sides, but Kevin Mirallas is the only player to take it up before Ashley Young fouls him. The two teams square up to each other, before Young is booked for his tackle on Mirallas.

DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct for the booking but poor overall from the referee.

DERMOT SAYS: The tackle isn't good, but I have to say I am stunned at the way the referee restarted the game. On Sunday, we saw an incident with Swansea v Middlesbrough and for me, if I was watching the match, I would've been alerted to that.

I just think the referee has not taken control of the situation from the outset. To drop the ball as he did, with no United player there, why did he not have one there or why did he not make sure he was in control of the situation?

I'm saying that the referee needs to protect himself. On Sunday, we saw a referee have an unfortunate incident because he dropped the ball and allowed a player to come from behind to take it. If you look at Mirallas here, he just allows him to take it in the middle of the park and that's why Young has reacted like he did. I'm not saying he's right, but I think that could be avoided.

I think referees will see both incidents on Sunday and Tuesday and go into their games thinking 'I'm not going to take that chance. I'm going to drop the ball like so and be in control of the situation'.

Credit: Skysports.com