Everton manager David Moyes criticised referee Lee Mason for having a "poor" game but accepted the official was not the cause behind his side's 1-0 defeat at home to Stoke.
Robert Huth scored the only goal of the match, turning Dean Whitehead's 15th-minute shot past Tim Howard. Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini should probably have had a penalty when he was man-handled by Ryan Shawcross in the area just before half-time but Mason, despite being in a good position, did not see it.
"I thought the referee had a poor game," said the Scot. "It is not the reason for our loss - far from it because that was down to our inability to make and take [chances]. But there was a lot going on in the box and we got very little of it."
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