By TARA ANSON-WALSH, FOOTBALL REPORTER
Published: 09:32 EST, 9 January 2026 | Updated: 09:32 EST, 9 January 2026
A frustrated David Moyes has attacked VAR’s inconsistencies after Gabriel Martinelli avoided any further sanction for pushing injured Liverpool full-back Conor Bradley off the pitch – with the Everton boss saying the whole system is 'in a difficult position'.
Bradley, 22, landed awkwardly while attempting to clear the ball in stoppage time of Liverpool’s draw with Arsenal on Thursday night. Martinelli, who initially threw the ball at Bradley before trying to push him off the pitch so play could resume, has escaped retrospective punishment, Daily Mail Sport understands.
The Brazilian was shown a yellow card at the time and will therefore not face further action, as it is deemed the referee had seen the incident. He has since apologised to Bradley.
Moyes' frustration comes in the wake of his defender Michael Keane’s three-match ban for hair-pulling. The Everton manager pointed to further inconsistencies, including Hwang Hee-chan scraping his studs down the calf of Harrison Armstrong, as well as the Martinelli incident.
'What Michael Keane did was a sending-off and a three-game ban, but the (Hwang) tackle was a nothing in the game and not recognised by VAR or the referee,’ Moyes said.
'We saw last night it’s OK to throw a ball at somebody and pick them up with a bad injury, but to have a little pull of someone’s hair accidentally means a three-game ban – that’s quite extraordinary for me. It sounds as though they have got all their things in the wrong places at the moment.'
Gabriel Martinelli attempted to push the injured Conor Bradley off the pitch on Thursday night, but will avoid any retrospective action given the referee showed the Brazilian a yellow card
Michael Keane was handed a three-match ban after VAR intervened over a hair-pulling incident
Keane was sent off after rookie Premier League referee Tom Kirk was called to the pitchside monitor by VAR official Chris Kavanagh, who spotted the defender pulling striker Tolu Arokodare’s hair during an aerial challenge late in the game.
Everton’s unsuccessful appeal against the dismissal and the subsequent three-match ban left Moyes even more agitated, as he felt the punishment did not fit the offence.
'Three games... it shouldn’t even have been any games, but I’m more embarrassed for whoever was on VAR,' said the Scot, whose options for the FA Cup tie at home to Sunderland have been reduced further by Jack Grealish’s dismissal for two yellow cards for dissent.
'This was a young referee doing only his third or fourth game and VAR gave him a terrible decision. VAR didn’t need to get involved in that at all, looking for the smallest things and probably things I don’t think anyone would have paid any interest in otherwise.
'They are doing the best they can, but if that is the best they can do at the moment, then they are in a difficult position.'