The Premier League's Key Match Incidents panel determined referee Staurt Attwell and VAR were wrong to dismiss Everton appeals
The ball touches the hand of Mateus Fernandes behind Thierno Barry during the match between West Ham United and Everton at London Stadium on April 25, 2026
The ball touches the hand of Mateus Fernandes behind Thierno Barry during the match between West Ham United and Everton at London Stadium on April 25, 2026(Image: Jed Leicester/Everton FC/SmartFrame)
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Everton should have been awarded a late penalty against West Ham United according to the group that reviews contentious decisions.
David Moyes was left perplexed after his side was not awarded a spot kick when midfielder Matues Fernandes reached around Thierno Barry and clearly made contact with the ball with his hand. Everton were trailing at the time and pushing for an equaliser - which they did find before then falling to a stoppage time strike by Callum Wilson.
The incident angered Everton and led to club chief executive Angus Kinnear raising his concerns with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) after a run of controversial calls against the Blues. That then continued on Monday night, when Moyes ended the draw with Manchester City furious his side had not been awarded a penalty when Bernardo Silva appeared to drag down Merlin Rohl with minutes to go and Everton leading.
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On the West Ham incident, the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents panel ruled the decision to dismiss Everton’s appeal for a penalty was wrong by 4-1, according to BBC Sport. The same margin ruled it was also an error for VAR not to intervene in Everton’s favour.
VAR had backed up referee Stuart Attwell’s decision on the pitch and justified its position by claiming Fernandes “accidentally handled the ball while grappling with an opponent”.
After the game, Hammers boss Nuno Espirito Santo went so far as to admit: “I was scared, I was worried.”
Asked by the ECHO whether he believed it should have been a penalty, Moyes said: “Yeah, I do, yeah. I think it would be, it's still pretty harsh on Fernandes, but he certainly punches the ball out, he puts his arms round [Barry]. It's not as if the ball comes on to his hand, his arm goes towards the ball. And I think today's the first time I've heard the word accidental being used.
“I thought that word had been taken out of the vocabulary really, because I don't think anybody's used that word in the whole season really, on handball situations.”
The KMI decision will come as little comfort to Everton, who have been denied strong penalty claims in their past three games. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was brought down by Curtis Jones with the Merseyside derby goalless and then, against Man City, no foul was given against Silva on Rohl with Everton 3-2 up in the 88th minute.
City scored a late equaliser while Liverpool won the derby in stoppage time, adding to the frustration over the decisions that went against Everton. At West Ham, Dewsbury-Hall levelled soon after the penalty controversy but Wilson then denied the Blues a valuable point.
The KMI ruled unanimously that, in the same game, Attwell was right not to send Jordan Pickford off when his momentum from a save carried him into Taty Castellanos.
The verdict over the handball is the second to rule Everton were wrongly denied a penalty this season, the first in the 1-0 home defeat to Arsenal, when William Saliba kicked through Barry’s leg.
Everton are said to have benefited from four incorrect decisions - a penalty that should have been awarded to Wolves in the 3-2 win at Molineux; a second yellow that should have been shown to James Garner in the 1-0 win at Aston Villa and penalties that should have been awarded to Arsenal in the 2-0 defeat at the Emirates and Chelsea as they were 3-0 down at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
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