Yesterday's teatime kick off saw Everton entertain an injury savaged Manchester City side, a game refereed by one of England and Europe's top officials, Andre Marriner.
I watched the game live on ESPN and personally I thought Andre Marriner and team were outstanding.
Both Everton goals came from set pieces and no doubt Manchester City will have complaints surrounding the awards of those set pieces.
Firstly the free kick for a foul just outside the area. It was a definite coming together and contact was made so a free kick was the right decision, however City cannot blame the referee for their poor defensive wall as gaps allowed Steven Pienaar to curl the ball past a helpless Shay Given at his near post.
Everton were on top in the game and got the opportunity to score a second courtesy of Marriner's assistant Richard West's fantastic spot.
The assistant noticed a clear shirt pull by Micah Richards on Louis Saha, although the initial foul occurred outside the area, the fact Richards continued to tug the shirt inside the box left Marriner and West with no choice but to award the spot kick that Saha stepped up and slotted home for 2-0.
I thought on the whole Marriner handled the game very sensibly. No need for any cards as his man management skills were great throughout and opted to talk to players rather than brandish needless cards.
A very solid performance from who is, in my opinion, among our top 5 referees along with Howard Webb, Martin Atkinson, Mike Dean and Mark Clattenburg.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Marriner get Manchester United v Arsenal at the end of the month as Webb will probably be ruled out as he is refereeing the Carling cup semi final between United and City only days earlier.
Verdict: Excellent 9/10
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