Everton have been given a fresh assessment on Leeds United controversially being awarded a penalty during their Premier League clash on Monday evening. The Toffees suffered a 1-0 defeat at Elland Road after Lukas Nmecha converted from twelve yards in the 84th minute for Leeds.
Referee Chris Kavanagh pointed to the spot for Leeds for a handball by Everton defender James Tarkowski during the closing moments of the match. VAR reviewed the incident and confirmed that Kavanagh's on-field decision would be unchanged.
Everton players contested the decision to hand Leeds a penalty, which has since been the subject of debate among pundits. Sky Sports punditd Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher both believe it was the right decision to award a spot-kick to Leeds, but that view is not shared by everyone.
Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton has outlined why he believed the wrong decision was made to award Leeds a penalty for a handball by Tarkowski.
“That's not a penalty. That's absolutely not a penalty," said Sutton during BBC Radio 5 Live's coverage from Elland Road.
"Who knows what the directive is, but his arm is down by his side. We'll hear [Everton manager] David Moyes after - but that's a scandal, I think. That's never a penalty. With the way the directive is I think that is really, really harsh.”
Everton boss David Moyes went on to also explain why he believes Leeds should not have been awarded a penalty.
“If VAR has made the decision I think it made the wrong decision," Moyes said on Monday night. "I'm obviously going to say it's not a penalty and I believe it's not a penalty.
"I've been to see the referee. The referee sort of took nothing to do with it. He thought it was to do with VAR, the decision they've made. I don't know what else I can say… The frustration is that there's lots of other frustrations."