Brentford head coach Thomas Frank was left fuming at Christian Norgaard’s red card as Everton failed to take advantage of playing against 10 men for almost an hour in a goalless draw at Goodison Park.
The Bees centre-back was sent off following VAR intervention after catching goalkeeper Jordan Pickford on his knee as he slid in attempting to break the deadlock late in the first half.
Referee Chris Kavanagh did not issue a yellow card or award a foul but was advised to view the pitchside monitor and opted to dismiss the Denmark international.
Brentford’s players were furious but Frank took his protestations too far and was cautioned.
In explaining the decision the Premier League Match Centre’s X account said: “The VAR deemed that the challenge was serious foul play and recommended an on-field review”.
The red card did nothing for the game as goal-shy Everton, struggling to make a breakthrough against a team which at least had some attacking intent, found 10 men even harder to find a way past.
Despite being 15th the Toffees are the third-lowest scorers in the league with 10, with three teams below them in the table managing more goals and this was another example of why.
The hosts reeled off six shots in the first 10 minutes and continued to prevail in the attacking statistics but never seemed to pose a serious threat.
In the circumstances it was a match they had to win as a foreboding December sees them face all of the current top five and Manchester United, although the return to fitness of Jarrad Branthwaite will help next month.
Iliman Ndiaye started brightly on the left, weaving his way into the penalty area to have a shot tipped over with goalkeeper Mark Flekken doing even better from the resulting corner, reacting brilliantly to tip away Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s instinctive backheel from Idrissa Gueye’s goalbound volley from outside the area.
Calvert-Lewin, who had scored in his two previous appearances against the Bees but was without a goal in his last seven games this season, headed wide, had an effort deflected into the goalkeeper’s arms and, from a narrow angle, forced Flekken to save sharply at his near post.
That last opportunity came from Dwight McNeil’s perfectly-weighted through-ball but the winger-turned-number 10 had chances of his own, although both were unconvincing off-target attempts from distance.
Brentford had been limited to former Liverpool defender Sepp van den Berg slashing wide at a corner but when the inventive Mikkel Damsgaard slid in Yoane Wissa with only Pickford to beat the England international stuck out a boot to deflect wide.
Pickford’s next involvement produced the flashpoint as Norgaard slid in with a genuine attempt to reach Ethan Pinnock’s knockdown but connected with his opponent’s knee, although not with any great force.
Everton’s shooting radar did not get much better after the break with Gueye’s attempt from distance tipped over, Vitalii Mykolenko ballooning into the Gwladys Street End with his weaker right foot and, right at the death, substitute Beto having a close-range effort blocked.
Brentford comfortably held on for their first away point of the season and their first clean sheet of the campaign.
But while Everton have now lost just once in eight league matches – a spell which has brought all 11 points – they have scored only six times in that period and failed to find the net in the last three games.
The fans’ negative reaction at the final whistle, aware of the fixtures to come, point to a long, hard winter for Sean Dyche’s side.