Clattenburg given time off for poor officiating following Merseyside derby fiasco

The Tyne and Wear official incurred the wrath of Toffees manager David Moyes after he sent off Tony Hibbert for bringing down Steven Gerrard in the box.

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It appeared on Saturday as though Gerrard (above) influenced Clattenburg to change his mind about giving Tony Hibbert a yellow card and the referee ended up sending the defender off

Dirk Kuyt scored the penalty and 10 minutes later infuriated home fans and players for an aerial lunge at Everton's Phil Neville which only incurred a yellow card.

It meant Kuyt was still on the pitch and available to take the last-minute penalty which gave Liverpool a 2-1 victory.

Kuyt acknowledged afterwards the tackle "looks bad", adding: "Maybe I was a bit lucky."

Everton's veteran defender Alan Stubbs said: "It was a two-footed lunge. If a player leaves the ground with both feet, that's a red card.

Just a yellow card: Dirk Kuyt's flying tackle on Phil Neville

"In the laws of the game if a player goes in with two feet and makes a lunge, and that is what it was, it's a red."

On the penalty Stubbs added: "The referee went to book Tony Hibbert holding a yellow card, Steven Gerrard walked past him (the referee) and it changed to a red.

"We saw the replays. That's disappointing. We were 1-0 at half-time and on top, we had control of the game."

Mark Clattenburg sends off Everton's Tony Hibbert

At the end Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher appeared to haul Joleon Lescott to the ground as Everton's nine men fought for an equaliser.

And Stubbs raged: "If the referee looks at the decision again he will see the penalty appeal was right. Their lad had his arms all around Joleon, what was he supposed to do?

"It's a stonewall penalty. The referee was close, but that means nothing. He was close to a lot of things and didn't give them.

"We are disappointed because we have lost. But there was zero feedback from the referee, I think they should have to come out after a game and explain themselves.

"We have to explain ourselves if we make bad decisions or mistakes, why not referees?"

Neither the league nor Clattenburg's own governing body will confirm his week off is as a result of his performance in the Merseyside derby last Saturday.

A spokesman for the Professional Game Match Officials organisation, however, said: "All match officials' performances are constantly monitored and assessed, with subsequent appointments being made on that basis."

In August, Hampshire referee Rob Styles was stood down from the following weekend's matches after admitting he awarded Chelsea an erroneous penalty against Liverpool at Anfield which enabled the London team to earn a 1-1 draw.

Clattenburg has not yet owned up to any culpability, unlike Styles who apologised to Liverpool after the Chelsea penalty which also brought public criticism from his PGMO boss Keith Hackett who said: "After watching it again on video, Rob Styles now clearly recognises that he got it wrong and he is deeply apologetic for that."

This time former top referee Hackett is staying quiet on the issue, although it must be pointed out there are 19 top referees belonging to the elite group who are appointed to Premier League matches which, of course, number a maximum of just 10 every weekend.

And Clattenburg, who was promoted to the elite list three years ago when he was just 30, is also in charge of the Lokomotiv Moscow-Atletico Madrid clash in the UEFA Cup on Thursday - another reason why Premier League referees are sometimes given the following weekend off.

Clattenburg, a Newcastle fan, set a post-war record by making his debut as a Football League referee at the age of just 25 when he took charge of the match between Chesterfield and York City in August 2000 and became a FIFA referee last year.

But this is not the first time his decisions have come under the microscope. With no signal coming from an assistant he played on in the last minute of the Manchester United-Tottenham game at Old Trafford when United keeper Roy Carroll fumbled Pedro Mendes' long-range shot over his own goalline in January 2005.

TV replays showed the ball was almost two yards over the line but the game ended in a 0-0 draw.