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Football

26th Apr 2022

Merseyside Police investigating criminal damage in Anfield away end

Daniel Brown

Liverpool defeated Everton 2-0 on Sunday

Merseyside Police are investigating reports of criminal damage caused in the away end at Anfield on Sunday afternoon, as reported in the Mirror.

Liverpool defeated city rivals Everton 2-0 in the Merseyside derby, thanks to goals from Andy Robertson and substitute Divock Origi.

Merseyside police Anfield

Vandalism on the concourse

Following the Premier League clash – which saw the Reds close the gap of league-leaders Manchester City and Everton drop into the relegation zone – images surfaced on Twitter of smashed television screens, as well as vandalism on the concourse and in the toilets.

It is thought that incident(s) at Anfield caused thousands of pounds worth of damage, and the Merseyside police have since opened an investigation.

As reported by The Mirror, a police spokeswoman said: “We are investigating an incident of criminal damage which took place inside Anfield Stadium on Sunday 24 April.

“The toilets and television screens in the concourse area of the stadium were found to have been vandalised after the derby game between Liverpool and Everton.

“We are liaising with Liverpool Football Club to obtain CCTV footage to identify the suspects and bring them to justice. Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact us on 101 or Facebook ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’ with reference 22000284271.”

The report adds that Everton will punish any supporters who have played a part in causing the damage.

Everton to write to referees’ boss

The Toffees have demanded an explanation from referees’ chief Mike Riley after Anthony Gordon was denied a second-half penalty against the Reds.

Gordon went down in the penalty area after a challenge from Joel Matip. Referee Stuart Attwell waved away appeals for a penalty and, after a check by VAR, the decision not to award the spot-kick was upheld.

Merseyside police Anfield

Everton, according to reports, have since written to the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the body responsible for refereeing standards in the Premier League, to ask why the incident was not thoroughly looked at.

It is thought Darren England, the video assistant referee for the game, looked at the challenge and deemed there was not sufficient contact between the two players to justify Attwell’s on-field call being overturned.

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