Sunderland won at Everton in the FA Cup back in January, but the game was not without controversy, and the same referee will take charge between the two sides once again this weekend.
Sunderland are set to play their final away match of the Premier League season at Everton on Sunday.
Currently, Regis Le Bris’ side sit 12th in the table, and are still mathematically in contention for the European places heading into the final two clashes of the campaign, with Chelsea visiting the Stadium of Light on finale day.
Interestingly ahead of the weekend, the Black Cats have already travelled to the Hill Dickinson Stadium this season, when they beat the Toffees on penalties in the FA Cup third round.
Although Sunderland came out victorious after over two hours of football, the cup clash between the two top flight sides was not without controversy due to referee John Brooks, and the travelling Wearside faithful may be fearful over history potentially repeating itself in light of the referee appointment for the penultimate fixture.
John Brooks to referee Everton vs Sunderland after drama in last fixture
In January’s FA Cup clash, Enzo Le Fee, who is hoping to start in midfield again as he did last time out against the Toffees, broke the deadlock after half an hour with an exceptional volleyed strike which flew past Jordan Pickford.
Despite Everton continuing to probe, Sunderland never looked likely to concede and were heading towards a 1-0 win, before one of the most contentious refereeing moments of the Black Cats’ season put a twist in the tale.
In the 89th minute, referee Brooks awarded Everton a penalty for an apparent foul from Trai Hume on substitute Adam Aznou, despite replays showing extremely minimal contact between the two players.
Hume was pressuring Aznou, but made no attempt to contact the Everton attacker, who threw himself to the ground theatrically and was awarded a contentious penalty for his trouble.
The surrounding Sunderland players were stunned in disbelief at Brooks’ game-changing decision, with skipper Granit Xhaka brandished a yellow card for his reaction.
In the aftermath, James Garner stepped up from 12 yards for Everton and slotted the spot-kick past Robin Roefs, seeing the game go to extra-time.
Justice was seemingly served in the following penalty shoot-out, with the Sunderland number one saving each of three Everton penalties he faced, sending the Black Cats into the next round of the FA Cup.
Expert slammed referee's decision in Everton vs Sunderland
It was not just those of a red-and-white persuasion to slam the controversial call, with former referee and PGMOL head Keith Hackett labelling the instance as the “worst decision of the season” at that point.
Hackett told Football Insider: “That penalty kick decision [in Everton versus Sunderland], has got to be the worst decision of the season so far.
“How a referee can give a penalty for no offence is beyond me.
“It was such a bad dive that the player wasn’t even around. We’re seeing players feigning injury almost every game now.”
Evidently within the FA Cup competition, there was no VAR in use, whereas on Sunday the technology will be employed by Brooks and his colleagues.
Hopefully, the presence of VAR will prevent a similar situation as Sunderland search for their first win since Tottenham Hotspur at home five games ago.