Everton manager Sean Dyche was perplexed by the “absolutely bizarre” amount of time it took to give the Toffees a penalty in their draw with Newcastle United.
The Blues drew 1-1 at St James’ Park on Tuesday (2 April), with Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s second-half penalty cancelling out Alexander Isak’s first-half effort.
While it appeared that Paul Dummett had hacked Ashley Young down within the penalty area, it took an extended VAR check to award the spot-kick, leaving Dyche perplexed and dissatisfied with the officials’ work.
According to Mail Online on Wednesday (3 April), he said: “The penalty, of course, we’ve only got one this season; we should have had another one Saturday, but we didn’t get it.
“I don’t know why they have to look at that a hundred times, it’s absolutely bizarre because I’ve seen it back and it gets given straight away. Anyway, they did get to the right decision, so we’re pleased with that, and Dom put it away so we’re pleased for him as well.”
Will Everton avoid relegation from the Premier League this season?
As Dyche pointed out, the Toffees haven’t been given a penalty this season, so they can’t complain too much after being handed a spot-kick in the Premier League, but Tuesday’s check took way too long.
While the important thing is that the VAR and the referee managed to come to the right decision in the end, VAR will always be criticised when it takes this long to make a decision as it genuinely impacts the game.
Everton have felt like the Premier League is against them this season, whether it’s because of off-the-field concerns or on the pitch. Still, any accusations of conspiracy may be dismissed now that the Toffees have been given a penalty.
Hopefully, this signals a change in the Toffees’ fortunes, and they can return to winning ways sooner rather than later. If they don’t, relegation may become a real possibility, especially as another point deduction looms.
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