Jon Moss was not a popular man at Villa Park on Tuesday night
To be fair to Steven Gerrard, he did try to be professional when asked about Jon Moss’ refereeing performance on Tuesday night.
The official made one or two (or several) questionable calls during Aston Villa’s 2-1 defeat at home to Liverpool, so much so that the home supporters were telling him he wasn’t fit to referee before the game had even reached the half-time interval.
Speaking to reporters after the game, the Villa manager was asked about Moss’ performance. Fully aware that saying anything too critical would land him in hot water, Gerrard opted to play it safe.
Gerrard on Jon Moss performance
“No comment, I just hope that it’s looked at,” the former Liverpool captain said in response.
Having confirmed that he hadn’t spoken to Moss after the full-time whistle, Gerrard added: “I don’t want to get into trouble and I don’t want to be sour.
“We’ve lost the game. Liverpool have scored two goals against us and we need to look at that. I don’t want to try and cover over any cracks but you’ve asked me a question and I’ve said I hope the referee’s performance is looked at.”
Fair enough. A sensible answer. Without saying too much, Gerrard had given everyone a decent enough idea of how he felt about the standard of refereeing.
If, however, anyone watching was still a little unsure, his concise response, when informed Moss would be retiring at the end of the season, made his feelings abundantly clear.
“He’s retiring at the end of the season,” a reporter said.
“Is he?” replied Gerrard, before pausing for a couple of seconds. “Good.”
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Liverpool remain in pursuit of quadruple.
Villa had taken the lead against quadruple-chasing Liverpool inside three minutes. Douglas Luiz, having forced a save from Alisson with a header, pounced to fire in the rebound.
Joel Matip quickly levelled at the other end before Sadio Mane’s header won the game for Liverpool in the second half.
The win puts Jurgen Klopp’s side level on points with Manchester City, who face Wolves at Molineux in their game in hand on Wednesday.
