Jarrad Branthwaite criticises the decision to disallow Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s goal against Tottenham Hotspur, saying Everton were denied a “clear goal”.
The Blues were left to rue a controversial VAR decision that contributed to Tottenham Hotspur ending their run of four Premier League wins at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Spurs took a two-goal lead on 18 minutes after finishes from Richarlison and Son Heung-Min, but Everton thought they were back in the game with six minutes left in the second half.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin fired home after Andre Gomes won back possession from Emerson Royal, but Michael Oliver, who was on VAR duty, told referee Stuart Attwell to review the incident and he disallowed the spot-kick after the Portuguese was adjudged to have caught the Tottenham full-back on the ankle.
Blues boss Sean Dyche branded the decision to overturn the goal a “re-trial” of the game, while Branthwaite believes Royal simply fell and that everyone on the pitch knew it was not a foul.
He said: “It was clear to everybody that everybody was sure that he had done it: ‘In my eyes it was never a foul. They showed it on the big screen and I think everybody saw it. When [the referee] gets to the monitor, the referee will judge.
“It was never a foul and it just ruins the game. It should have been a clear goal for me. He didn’t win the ball but he didn’t touch the player and it just fell. It’s one of those things and there’s nothing we can do now.”
Gomes eventually reduced the arrears in the 82nd minute before substitute Arnaut Danjuma hit the crossbar in the dying seconds. Despite the encouraging performance, Branthwaite believes Everton paid the price for a poor start to the game.
“I think we dominated the game after the first 15 minutes when we were sloppy, we didn’t react to things and we were off the pace,” said the England Under-21 international.
“Two goals behind and we flipped the switch, but you can’t do that in the Premier League. You can’t be two goals behind and expect to get back into the game, but as you saw, we created the chances we needed to score. Today, it was just not meant to be.
“We were in a good period when we kept the ball away from goal and to score two quick goals in the first 15 minutes is not like us. There was a lot of frustration, but I think the reaction we showed after staying in the game was good from the team. It shows where we are going as a team.”