Sue Smith and Jay Bothroyd tackle Dermot Gallagher after Everton were denied a penalty against Tottenham on Saturday (3 February).
On Monday (5 February), the former Premier League referee told Sky Sports Ref Watch that he agreed with the officials that there was not enough contact when Radu Dragusin pushed Beto in the final minutes at Goodison Park.
However, Smith argued that “there should have been a foul” on the 26-year-old Portuguese as the Spurs defender tugged on his shirt, while Bothroyd added that the Toffees striker should not have gone and jumped for the ball as he also argued that a penalty should have been awarded in the 2-2 draw.
“The referee didn’t think it to be a penalty,” Gallagher said. “The referee clearly waved his hand, so what he [VAR] conveyed was that there wasn’t enough contact in my opinion. The VAR can only intervene if he thinks he has made a clear and obvious mistake. I don’t think that’s a penalty.”
“He would certainly have just gone for the ball if he hadn’t been fouled,” Smith added. “There has to be a foul committed. You can see he’s pulling his jersey.”
“The defender played very sympathetically,” Bothroyd said. “He pushed him and pulled his shirt to distract him so he couldn’t jump for the ball. I think that should have been a penalty.”
Everton unlucky against Tottenham:
This was another game in which Everton were extremely unlucky not to get a penalty after Dragusin apparently grabbed Bet’s shirt and knocked him to the ground.
There is no reason why the striker should have fallen if he had not been fouled, as he could have headed his team’s goal.
This is just another example of fans being frustrated with the refereeing and VAR did very little to help the referee on the pitch make the right decision.
If the on-field referee had made it, there is no way that VAR would have overturned it, because it was clear as day.
The Toffees will have to accept that they will not be able to win a penalty this season after another refereeing error at Goodison Park.