Former referee criticises ‘poor’ decision made in Everton’s defeat to Man City

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Keith Hackett has criticised referee John Brooks and the VAR team for the ‘poor’ decision that handed Man City the lead against Everton.

Everton held a glimmer of hope when Jack Harrison’s goal claimed the lead at Goodison Park last night.

Phil Foden’s fifth of the campaign brought Man City level in the second half though, before the visitors were handed the advantage when John Brooks pointed to the penalty spot.

Amadou Onana was punished for a handball after a close-range shot from Nathan Ake struck his arm, with the referee taking very little time to mull over his decision before blowing the whistle.

Julian Alvarez went onto score the resulting penalty, before a mistake from Jordan Pickford allowed Bernardo Silva to net the third.

Man City had looked close to taking the lead prior to the penalty, but Keith Hackett has still slammed the ‘poor’ decision and the inconsistent handball law.

When asked by a fan on X (formerly Twitter) about his thoughts on the decision, Hackett wrote: “The handball law amended by David Elleray and the IFAB to make decision making easier has succeeded in doing the opposite. It promotes inconsistency which leads to these decisions.

“Was there deliberate movement of hand to ball – poor decision.”

Amadou Onana is one of many players who have been punished for a handball decision this season, though the main issue is the inconsistency that comes with the rules.

The Belgian’s handball would have probably been dismissed on many occasions this term, while there have also been much worse decisions made too.

What is the handball law?

The handball law says it is an offence if a player:

• deliberately touches the ball with their hand/arm, for example moving the hand/arm towards the ball
• touches the ball with their hand/arm when it has made their body unnaturally bigger. A player is considered to have made their body unnaturally bigger when the position of their hand/arm is not a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player’s body movement for that specific situation. By having their hand/arm in such a position, the player takes a risk of their hand/arm being hit by the ball and being penalised
• scores in the opponents’ goal:
  • directly from their hand/arm, even if accidental, including by the goalkeeper
  • immediately after the ball has touched their hand/arm, even if accidental