The Premier League have issued a terse statement this morning explaining why the officials denied Everton a penalty in last night’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester City.
Everton fans and manager Frank Lampard were furious with referee Paul Tierney and VAR official Chris Kavanagh over their decision to wave away what looked a stonewall shout for a spot-kick late in the game.
While assistant coach Ashley Cole was booked for confronting Tierney after the match, a petty example of the attitude of these officials.
Had that penalty been awarded and scored then the Blues might have secured a valuable point, one which could of course prove very important at the end of the season.
Today’s explanation from the Premier League is a frankly pathetic response and one that just further underlines the sense of injustice.
According to the League authorities, Kavanagh didn’t think there was enough clear evidence of an ‘error’ to justify a penalty. Short of the City player actually picking up the ball and throwing it over the goal line, I’m not sure what else would be needed!
As I wrote in my match review, we all know that had that been an Everton player it would have been an instant penalty with no need to even go through the pantomime of VAR.
And, this followed a similar situation last weekend when the Toffees’ were also denied a penalty that was clear and indisputable.
This has been a pattern all season and there have been so many of these incidents which have gone against the Blues’ over the last few seasons, it’s difficult to remember all of them. I suppose in truth lots of club’s might have similar tales of woe, especially those who aren’t one of the elite top six.
A few examples include Dele Alli’s handball for Spurs back in November 2019, which wasn’t given after a similarly long VAR review. And, Michael Keane being punished for accidentally clipping the heal of a Brighton player as both were going for a high ball in the box leading to a penalty being given against him.
That Brighton decision was incidently the first time VAR had overruled a referee since the system had been introduced to the Premier League.
I’ve never really been a fan of using this technology in football in this way, apart from over goaline decisions if there is uncertainty about whether the ball has actually fully crossed the line.
Technology has been introduced reasonably well in cricket and rugby as both sports have regular and natural breaks in play, which allow for reviews.
But, even so in both, there are still moments of controversy and no amount of technology removes humans from making the decision ultimately and therefore the chance of error or something else creeping in. It’s not a pancea and it’s never going to remove this from sport.
Also, using VAR in football means that referees are essentially no longer in authority over a game and can evade responsibility for having to make difficult or controversial decisions on the pitch.
This is exactly what happened yesterday as Tierney claimed he was basically unsighted and so couldn’t make the decision. Referring it ‘upstairs’ made it Kavanagh’s responsibility and with his track record there was very little chance of Everton getting the decision.
But, he’s miles away in the Premier League’s VAR hut so he’s insulated from any consequences while Tierney can saunter off the pitch claiming in the end it wasn’t his decision.
It’s very difficult to believe this was just incompetence as it seems an absolutely clear example of handball and so the only conclusion is that something else is at play here.
Lampard himself inferred this in his post-match interviews although he couldn’t state it outright for obvious reasons.
I hope this latest example of bias in favour of the ‘big clubs’ doesn’t come back to haunt the Blues’ this season and the Toffees’ don’t go down because of this disgraceful decision.
Whatever ultimately happens, I want the club to make it clear they never want Tierney or Kavanagh anywhere near an Everton game ever again.