Everton ‘lodge a formal complaint’ after being denied a penalty against Manchester City

Everton have reportedly lodged a formal complaint after being denied a penalty against Manchester City at the weekend, with the club also asking for an apology to Frank Lampard and his squad in the wake of the controversy.

City midfielder Rodri escaped an apparent handball call in the final knockings of the clash at Goodison Park at the weekend, with both the on-field officials and VAR deciding not to penalise the infringement. 

The visitors went on to win 1-0 after Phil Foden’s goal, leaving Everton with a sour taste. Today, The Athletic claim, they have formally taken issue with the decision.

Denise Barrett-Baxendale, Everton’s chief executive offer, made the complaint on behalf of the club to Premier League supremo Richard Masters and chief football officer Tony Scholes earlier this morning.

The same outlet go on to say that Barrett-Baxendale expressed ‘grave concerns’ over the standard of the refereeing in other Everton matches this season. 

During the incident, Rodri appeared to control the ball with his arm, with the contact coming below the so-called ‘t-shirt’ line.

This is the rule the top-flight introduced to attempt to provide clarity over handball decisions – although referee Paul Tierney did not spot the moment of contact. 

The decision went back to the VAR hub at Stockley Park, but Chris Kavanagh decided the handball was not worthy of another look by Tierney pitch-side. 

After the game, Lampard accused VAR official Kavanagh of ‘incompetence at best’. 

In an explosive outburst, he said: ‘We’ve lost a point by a professional who can’t do his job right,’ Lampard said. ‘It’s incompetence at best. At worst, who knows? 

‘That’s Chris Kavanagh. It’s completely on Chris. The referee [Paul Tierney] on the day knows it was a penalty. [But] he couldn’t see it. 

‘The decision is incredible, incredible that loses us the opportunity to get what we deserved. It wouldn’t have needed more than five seconds to know it was a penalty. He should have told the referee to give it or to look at it. 

 

‘They have not given that as a penalty when it strikes him on the arm, in an unnatural position. I have a three-year-old daughter at home who could tell you that was a penalty.’ 

Ashley Cole, the Everton coach, was shown a yellow card for remonstrating with Tierney, meanwhile, in the heated scenes after the final whistle. 

‘I’ll wait for the statement or apology they do when things are wrong, but it will mean nothing. I was calm, I was not shouting and ranting at him,’ Lampard added. 

‘I wanted to know if offside in the build-up but I have been told it wasn’t in the build-up.’ 

City manager Pep Guardiola was under that an offside decision had been made. In the build-up, Richarlison picked up the ball but may have strayed past the last man.   

‘It was offside,’ he said. ‘There was VAR and the action was offside. I didn’t see the image. 

‘We did everything to win. When you have that the manager will be alongside the players, that is for sure. We have to try again and try again and in the end, Phil was there and scores. 

‘We were searching. We tried and we were there. We earned the good fortune. Everton has top players. Their quality is there, we knew it.’