Manuel Pellegrini expressed his displeasure at some of the refereeing decisions in the recent 2-1 loss against Everton.

The two teams met each other in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final. Everton are determined to make up for the disappointments when it comes to cup competitions. They put in a determined display at Goodison Park to claim a 2-1 win. It puts them in pole position ahead of the return leg at the Etihad stadium. The prospect of a Merseyside Derby in the final of the competition has been enhanced after Liverpool beat Stoke City in the other semi-final.

However, Pellegrini was dissatisfied with some refereeing decisions made in the game. The officials had some tight calls to make but television replays appeared to suggest that almost every decision was correct. The aggravation for Pellegrini came up due to a penalty appeal that was waved down by the officials in the second half. Jesus Navas appeared to be fouled in the 70th minute, but the referee chose not to award a penalty. Pellegrini also felt that the first goal scored by Everton should have been ruled out for offside, although television replays suggested otherwise. Ramiro Funes Mori scored the opening goal for Everton before Lukaku provided the winner with 12 minutes of normal time remaining.

“It’s a foul inside the box. He didn’t touch the ball, he touched the legs of Jesus Navas, it’s a clear penalty.We didn’t deserve to lose. At the end of the first half they scored a goal that was absolutely offside, we should have had a clear penalty and we had two clear chances to score. It was offside. He made the movement and participated in play. It’s unbelievable that the referee or linesman didn’t see it was offside,” said the City manager.