Thierno Barry was denied a penalty in Everton's 1-0 win over Newcastle United at St James' Park
Fabian Schar tackles Thierno Barry during the match between Newcastle United and Everton at St James' Park on November 2, 2026
Fabian Schar tackles Thierno Barry during the match between Newcastle United and Everton at St James' Park on November 2, 2026(Image: Molly Darlington/Getty Images)
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David Moyes is hoping Everton get a change in fortunes when it comes to referees as they host Coventry City on Friday night after Thierno Barry was denied a penalty against Newcastle United following a challenge by Fabian Schar.
Stuart Attwell has his second Hill Dickinson Stadium assignment this season for the visit of the Sky Blues after previously taking charge of the 1-0 win over Ipswich Town. However, last season he was also the man in the middle who missed a handball by West Ham United’s Matheus Fernandes when challenging Barry in Everton’s 2-1 defeat at London Stadium - a decision the Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel voted 4-1 was an error.
The KMI Panel also voted 3-2 that Barry should have earned the Blues a penalty in their 1-0 home loss to Arsenal the previous December when he was kicked by William Saliba.
During the 2025/26 canpaign Everton picked up the unwanted record of becoming the first Premier League club in seven seasons of VAR not to get an overturn in their favour.
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And Moyes, who claimed there are “loads” of such instances already for his side this season, insisted that on another night, the Barry shout at St James’ Park could have been given but officials at Stockley Park didn’t even get involved on this occasion.
Asked to clarify his remark about adding it to a portfolio of such instances, he quipped: “Well, Mikel’s got one on managers coming out of the box. I’ve got ones on penalties we’ve not had here.”
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Acknowledging that it is a serious situation though, he added: “No, we’ve had a few. I don’t like going back but the penalty we didn’t get against Manchester City, it went to 3-2 and we didn’t get the penalty on that night, that was nothing short of unbelievable, incredible.
“It was our fault, we were 3-1 up and they got to 3-2 but we got an absolute stonewall penalty that we all agreed on and we didn’t get it. That was with four games to go last season, it made a huge difference to us, it really did.
“I think if it was given, I don’t think anyone would have said an awful lot about it.”