Frazier Campbell on Régis Le Bris, Granit Xhaka, Darren Bent, Steve Bruce and Sunderland's season
Sunderland were back in action against Everton at the Stadium of Light on Monday night
The Premier League have released a statement confirming why Sunderland were not awarded a penalty in the second half of their 1-1 draw with Everton.
Sunderland had huge appeals for a penalty turned away when Michael Keane blocked a cross, with the ball striking his hand away to his right. A brief VAR check backed the referee’s decision not to award a penalty, which the game resuming shortly afterwards.
The Premier League match centre released a tweet explaining the decision, saying that Keane’s arm was deemed to be in a ‘justifiable’ position.
The statement said: “The referee’s call of no penalty to Sunderland was checked and confirmed by VAR – with Keane’s arm deemed to be in a justifiable position.”
Why Sunderland weren't awarded a penalty against Everton - official statement
Sunderland had fallen behind due to Iliman Ndiaye’s first-half goal, but equalised shortly after the break thanks to Granit Xhaka’s strike.
Speaking after the game, Le Bris said of the incident: “I haven’t seen it back yet, but those on the bench who saw it have told me it should have been a penalty.”
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Kyril Louis-Dreyfus on January window
Regis Le Bris’ men have taken 17 points from their opening nine matches, and could move up to second in the table with a win over Everton on Monday evening following a stellar run of form in recent weeks.
“To be honest we got promoted into a new league, our starting XI is almost entirely of new players so we didn't really know what to expect coming into the season but to be honest we've been very pleased with the start we've made and especially with the team,” Louis-Dreyus said.
“For us the most important thing is that the team represents the community and the values of the club and for us we think that, as in the wins and the losses we've had this year, I think the team made us proud and that's the most important thing. I think the stats showed to us that unless you do something extraordinary you're likely going to go back to the Championship. For us, we didn't really set ourselves a budget in terms of the money we want to spend - we had an ambition to try and bring in the players we want and fortunately a lot of the deals we wanted to do we were able to conclude them, and as a result of that the spend in the end was big, but most importantly we got the players that we wanted.
“I would say definitely a little bit [that the great start could affect Sunderland’s approach in January] because obviously if we're in the bottom three by Christmas or we're in the top six by Christmas that changes the ambition a little bit,” he added.
“We're currently preparing for all scenarios but we've been doing that since the summer so hopefully we'll be going into the January window with a top ten finish in mind and we will prepare and execute the transfer window to give us the best chance.”
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