Everton will be feeling aggrieved tonight, after an instance of hair pulling in the Premier League went unpunished, weeks after Michael Keane was sent off.
Manchester City are taking on Fulham this evening.
What on earth is the referee thinking here? 😡
ANOTHER shocking decision against Everton!
Everton v Wolverhampton Wanderers - Premier League
Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
And in the first-half, City had a corner, with the ball getting cleared away seemingly without any drama.
But TV replays then flashed up that VAR spotted an incident of hair pulling during as the City delivery came in.
Everton will be fuming as Kenny Tete escapes red card for hair pulling
Tete was seen pulling the hair of Antoine Semenyo at the back post.
Perhaps Semenyo would have got to the ball, perhaps he wouldn’t.
Kenny Tete playing for Fulham.
Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images
The incident was seemingly missed by referee Paul Tierney, but VAR did consider taking action.
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However, ultimately they decided Tete’s actions did not warrant any kind of punishment.
It’s a bitter pill to swallow for Everton of course, because back in December during the game against Wolves, Michael Keane was sent off for pulling the hair of striker Tolu Arokodare.
The incident was controversial, with Keane being dismissed for violent conduct.
Everton then tried to appeal Keane’s red card, but were unsuccessful.
No consistency in Premier League officiating
Predictably this has not gone down well with Everton fans on social media.
Keane was sent off and banned for three matches as a result of his red card for violent conduct.
Why always Everton? 😡
It's almost unbelievable at this point!
Michael Keane's red card appeal rejected
Credit: Getty Images/Matt McNulty/.
People can have their opinions about whether Keane’s actions warrant that punishment, but what’s frustrating is that there is clearly no consistency.
Tete was marking Semenyo and pulled his hair in a calculated move to stop him attacking the ball. It was worse than the Keane incident, which saw the defender accidentally grab Arokodare’s hair while he was genuinely challenging for the ball.
David Moyes could be forgiven for ringing up the PGMOL and demanding an explanation as to why Tete’s hair pull did not receive the same punishment as his player.
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