Today has been a huge one for everyone associated with Everton Football Club, as the Toffees defeated Chelsea 1-0 to give themselves a big boost in their relegation battle with Burnley and Leeds United.
Emotions were running high throughout the encounter and there were several heated moments amongst the players and the fans.
One of those involved Everton forward, Richarlison, who after scoring grabbed a flare that was thrown onto the pitch and flung it back into the home crowd in an emotionally aggressive manner, which can be seen below.
No one going to mention this from Richarlison? pic.twitter.com/xkwKMettgZ
— Jack Rosser (@JackRosser_) May 1, 2022
Footage courtesy of Bein Sports
The incident could have caused serious injury to one of the spectators, and even though that wasn’t the Brazilian’s intention, the Everton forward should have seen red for his actions.
When asked about the incident, former Premier League referee Mark Halsey explained exclusively to Caughtoffside, that the player was lucky not to have been sent off for violent conduct.
The former official stated: “Richarlison was very fortunate not to be sent off. He could have so easily been send-off if the officials had seen it. That, throwing the flare back into the crowd, is very, very dangerous. That could have hit a young child, it could’ve hit anybody and caused serious injury.
“He has been reckless in that situation; all he’s got to do is throw the flare to the side.
“He’s very lucky that the officials didn’t see that as an act of violent conduct”.
In the discussion, Halsey referred to a similar incident between Jamie Carragher and Arsenal fans back in 2002, where the former Liverpool defender threw a coin back into the stands at Highbury and received his marching orders as a result.
“Quite a few years ago, Jamie Carragher was sent off at Arsenal; a fan threw a coin onto the pitch and Jamie Carragher threw the coin back and he was sent off, and subsequently faced a three-match ban”, said the former referee when giving a comparison to the Richarlison incident.
The Everton man could have easily been send-off in the Merseyside derby last week against Liverpool for a kick out on Jordan Henderson and it looks like the 24-year-old was lucky again today.