Everton 2-1 Manchester City: Officiating Mistakes ?

Manchester City Manager Manuel Pellegrini was unhappy with the officiating in the 2-1 Capital One Cup Semifinal First Leg loss to Everton on Wednesday night. The Toffees had two goals chalked off for offside in the first half, but Pellegrini feels the third time Everton hit the back of the net, the first which was allowed should also have been marked off.

"The first goal was offside. He [Lukaku] was in front of Willy Caballero and it is unbelievable that the linesman did not see.

Lukaku was in an offiside position but he was not involved in the play, did not attempt to touch the ball and thus was not penalized. Under the current interpretation of the offside rule this seems a fair call though it must be conceded that this is a recent rules change.

The Blues Manager is also convinced Jesus Navas was denied a clear penalty in the second half. On this it's difficult to argue with Pellegrini.

The video below indicates Navas was clearly taken down in the area - a penalty any day of the week if the linesman if paying attention.

Pênalti não marcado no Jesus Navas #MCFC pic.twitter.com/Fkno8lXW7T

— Man City Brazil (@ManCityBrazil) January 6, 2016

"If you aggregate the clear penalty that we should have had for Jesus Navas - both of these are clear observations that can change the score.

"It was a foul, it was clear - he took the legs of Jesus - it was a clear penalty.

"We didn't deserve to lose in the first half - they scored a goal that was absolutely offside and then we were denied a clear penalty."

The Blues host Everton in the second leg at the Etihad in three weeks time.