Everton were left furious when they were denied a penalty in the second half of their clash with Arsenal as the Toffees chased the game
21:41, 20 Dec 2025Updated 21:42, 20 Dec 2025
Everton were denied a penalty against Arsenal
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Everton were denied a penalty against Arsenal
Everton players were left furious they weren't awarded a second half penalty against Arsenal on Saturday evening.
The Toffees were chasing the game, after Viktor Gyokeres had given the Gunners the lead from the spot in the first half. And just before the hour mark David Moyes side believed they should have had their chance from the spot after William Saliba caught Thierno Barry.
Barry was first to the ball, prodding it into a dangerous area as Salbia swung up his foot into the underside of Barry's - sending him to the ground. "He goes to kick the ball but he kicks Barry instead," Alan Smith said on Sky Sports commentary.
The Premier League have explained why it wasn't awarded
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The Premier League have explained why it wasn't awarded
"It happens so often when one player gets their first and the other ends up kicking their foot."
There was a VAR review, however it upheld the decision on the pitch. "He's a little fortunate. He did kick Barry's foot."
And a post on the Premier League Match Centre's account read: "The referee’s call of no penalty to Everton was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed the contact from Saliba on Barry wasn’t sufficient for a penalty."
"Everton clearly got robbed for that penalty man ridiculous," one fan fumed on social media. While a second said: "Everton have every right to feel hard done by those two penalty non calls!"
"The VAR is an embarrassment in Everton vs Arsenal match , Barry touched the ball and saliba kicked him, that’s a penalty," a third pointed out.
As a fourth shared: "Everton have just been robbed of a clear penalty...."
And another added: "Not sure why Everton didn’t get a penalty after a clear foul on Barry!"
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Arsenal had needed the help of VAR for their penalty call, and a post read: "After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of no penalty to Arsenal.
"Referee announcement: 'After review, Everton No.15 commits a handball offence. My final decision will be penalty kick'."
Everton had also wanted a penalty a couple of minutes earlier when Barry was hacked down by Martin Zubimendi - but it was deemed have occurred outside of the box.