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Everton were adamant they should have had a penalty in a 3-3 draw against Manchester City.
Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has revealed what the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) said about Everton being denied a penalty in their draw against Manchester City.
The Toffees were held to a 3-3 stalemate in a breathless Hill Dickinson Stadium encounter. When Everton led 3-2 - with Thierno Barry firing a double and Jake O’Brien scoring a header having come from a goal behind - City captain Bernado Silva was spotted grappling with Toffees midfielder Merlin Rohl during a corner. On-field referee Michael Oliver did not pick up on the incident, although VAR did review it. However, Paul Howard - on duty at Stockley Park - opted against recommending Oliver to review it on the pitchside monitor.
With City escaping punishment, they managed to score a 97th-minute equaliser through Jeremy Doku’s second wonder strike of the encounter.
Gallagher claimed that VAR said that the ‘ball was dead’ when Silva was adjudged to have interlocked with Rohl - but City could not have had any complaints had a penalty been awarded.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Gallagher said: “I see this and the one thing that bothers me - and I'm consistent about this - if a player doesn't look at the ball, he's got his back to the ball at a corner, he's only got one intention.
“Once he interlocks with another player, he runs a massive risk. If he gets penalised, he cannot complain. If the referee had given a penalty or VAR had spotted it and recommended giving a penalty, I don't think anyone could complain.
“The only way to stamp it out is actually to penalise the defender because if you don't, he will take a chance forever and a day.
“I listened to it (VAR) and they’re saying he interlocked when the ball's dead, he can't give a penalty when the ball is dead but the ball was in the air. They say the majority of the incidence happened before the ball was in player, that infers some of it happened when the ball was in play.
“I'm hard and fast about this. If a defender interlocks with an attacker with his back to the ball and holds on to the attacker throughout the move, he runs a massive risk. If he gets penalised, he cannot argue.”
Another big decision failed to go Everton’s way after they were denied a penalty in a 2-1 loss at West Ham when Mateus Fernandes handled inside the box. Blues manager David Moyes said: “I've seen it, I've had a look. If that doesn't get given as a penalty then it's an absolute free-for-all from now on. I might have to start coaching my defenders how to defend differently completely. It looks like now you're able to sort of grapple and wrestle on the ground if you want.
“I'm absolutely amazed and look, this is on the back of a terrible decision at West Ham when we don't get a penalty there either. Hey, that's not the reason why we don't get the result tonight, but I think it's another pointer just to say that I find it really hard that that wasn't given. I think most football supporters will find that really difficult that that penalty wasn't given.”
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