Everton suffered their eighth Premier League loss of the season at the hands of Leicester City at King Power Stadium yesterday.

The Toffees went ahead after a fine Richarlison header 23 minutes into the game, but were pegged back by Jamie Vardy in the second-half.

Kelechi Iheanacho broke Everton’s heart with his 90th-minute winner, but former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg says the linesman didn’t follow protocol for the goal.

The Leicester forward was flagged for offside, but the ref allowed play to continue, and VAR confirmed he was onside afterwards, allowing the goal to stand.

“It was right that Kelechi Iheanacho’s late winner was awarded but the assistant referee should have kept his flag down,” Clattenburg told Sportsmail.

“He did not follow protocol and allow the attacking phase to continue. Referee Graham Scott, though, was right to allow play to continue and the goal to be scored before the VAR check — and once the striker was shown to be onside then the goal was awarded.

“However, assistant referees risk causing controversy by not keeping their flags down. Had Everton’s players stopped defending, having seen the flag, then it would have left a very sour taste, as the goal would still have been given.”

Clattenburg also believes Leicester’s left-back Ben Chilwell should have been booked for simulation.

The defender fell in the box, with the ref initially awarding a penalty.

However, replays showed Mason Holgate didn’t do anything wrong, with VAR overturning the decision.

“Meanwhile, Leicester were awarded a penalty when Ben Chilwell went down following a challenge from Everton’s Mason Holgate. Even in real-time I called that Chilwell had dived and VAR was right to overturn the decision,” Clattenburg continued.

“But why was Chilwell not then booked for simulation That should have happened and would have cleared up the situation for everyone.”

Both refereeing errors went against Everton, and while they didn’t directly play a role in their defeat, a flawless officiating might have helped.