Ian Wright has slammed Luton Town defender Teden Mengi after being involved in a “crazy” moment during the 1-1 draw with Everton on Friday (3 May).
The Luton defender brought Jarrad Branthwaite to the floor inside the penalty area, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin converting a spot-kick to give the Toffees a 1-0 lead before Elijah Adebayo’s equaliser seven minutes later.
Mengi was at the centre of controversy during the match and could have seen all three points go to Sean Dyche’s team due to some of his defending throughout the Premier League clash.
Speaking via BBC Match of the Day on Saturday (4 May), Wright said: “He actually lifts him up – I’ve never seen this before. He’s a big guy. To see him lifted up like that, you think to yourself, that should give you a clue.
“It’s crazy! When you look at how much is at stake for Luton, and how many goals they give away at the end of games, for a defender to be doing that is just poor defending.”
Everton can relax after securing Premier League safety
While some fans may have been disappointed to only claim a point against Premier League strugglers Luton, the two sides are currently in completely different mindsets.
The Hatters are fighting for their lives at the bottom of the league table, while Everton have already secured Premier League football for next season and can begin to breathe again.
Despite this, Sean Dyche and his team are still unbeaten in four consecutive matches, having claimed three points against each of Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Brentford, beating them all to nil.
Everton have certainly defied the odds, having been deducted a total of eight points throughout the campaign due to Profit and Sustainability breaches.
While there is still a lot of uncertainty at Goodison Park, with minimal advancements in the club’s takeover, knowing that they are safe from the relegation scrap is a huge relief.
Tussles in the penalty area are only becoming more common, with referees choosing to do little about it, especially in situations like these.
However, the refereeing officials deserve a lot of respect for getting this call correct as Branthwaite was hauled to the ground with a rugby tackle from the Hatters centre-back.
In other Everton news, the club want to sign a Blackburn Rovers star as part of a double Championship raid.
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