Everton lost Saturday’s meeting with Arsenal through a Viktor Gyokeres penalty, but the Blues felt they should have had their own penalty.
It was the final game at the Hill Dickinson Stadium in 2025 and David Moyes did not love what he saw on display.
Having lost Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gana Gueye this week, the last thing Everton needed was to hand Arsenal any favours.
But that was exactly what happened when Jake O’Brien bizarrely handled the ball to give away a penalty.
Ahead of the game, Moyes addressed recent Premier League decisions involving Everton, with the 62-year-old left furious at their officials during the game.
After seeing Thierno Barry kicked inside the box by Arsenal’s William Saliba, Mark Clattenburg shared his verdict on the incident with Everton News.
Mark Clattenburg shares verdict on Everton penalty appeal vs Arsenal
There can be no arguing the penalty that saw O’Brien penalised for a clear handball from an Arsenal corner.
However, there were appeals from those in blue for a penalty in their favour after Saliba clearly caught Barry on the back of the leg after the striker won the ball.
If you’re David Moyes, what are you saying to Jake O’Brien after THAT? 😡
Speaking to Everton News, Clattenburg has revealed his stance on VAR’s decision to stick with referee Sam Barrott’s decision.
“Thierno Barry and William Saliba both go for the ball with Barry winning the ball before Saliba kicks the boot of Barry resulting in Barry going down,” Clattenburg told Everton News.
“In Europe, this would have resulted in a penalty but Premier League referees have a high threshold on these type of challenges when both players are going for a bouncing ball.
“This call should stay with the referee call and could have gone either way.”
Clattenburg rubbished talk of a suspension for James Tarkowski just the other week following Nottingham Forest’s complaint to PGMOL.
However, the former Premier League referee was pleased with the decision at the Hill Dickinson Stadium to stick with Barrott’s original call.
It is not what Everton fans wanted to see, with Barry clearly caught by the France international defender.
But Everton fans won’t be surprised to see this decision not go in their favour.
What David Moyes said about Everton’s penalty appeals
Everton have already seen a number of decisions go against them in the Premier League this season.
And the 62-year-old manager made it clear after the game that he was not pleased with the decision against Barry.
HOW were Everton not awarded a penalty for this? 😤
This would have been given against the Blues!
Moyes has already slammed Barrott in the past following Everton’s defeat against Liverpool at Anfield last season.
Playing against the league leaders, Everton needed things to go in their favour and it became very clear that did not happen on the docks.
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