Leicester City boss Steve Cooper has stressed that his team has moved on from the “awful human error” that saw them squander a two-goal lead against Crystal Palace last weekend.
The Foxes were 2-0 up early in the second half at Selhurst Park, thanks to a goal from Stephy Mavididi, but things quickly unravelled.
Jean-Philippe Mateta scored a controversial goal just a minute later, and then slotted home a penalty in the dying minutes to rescue a point for Palace.
Mateta’s first goal was initially ruled out for offside, but VAR overturned the decision after reviewing the footage. Some camera angles appeared to show Mateta in an offside position, leaving Leicester feeling aggrieved.
The club later learned, in a private meeting with Premier League officials, that the decision was based on the selection of the ‘kick-point’—the moment the ball is struck—which VAR determined before the lines were drawn.
While Leicester argued that another kick-point should have been chosen, which would have shown Mateta offside, the decision stood. The lines drawn according to VAR protocol indicated Mateta was onside, and the goal was allowed to stand.
Cooper remains frustrated by the outcome. “We’re over it now, it was an awful human error,” he said.
“We have seen images that show he clearly was offside, but they froze it at the wrong time—everything seen has been a false image. We showed the Premier League that they used the wrong image.
“We had a massive error go against us, errors like that shouldn’t happen and it’s why we’re changing to the semi-automated system. We felt very let down by it. We needed to stand up for the club and tell the Premier League what we thought.”
Leicester now turn their attention to their upcoming fixture against Everton, who are also without a win from their opening four matches.
Like Leicester, Everton have experienced their own heartbreak, twice letting slip two-goal leads in their last two games.
Bournemouth came back with goals from Antoine Semenyo, Lewis Cook, and Luis Sinisterra in the final moments, while Aston Villa overturned Everton’s lead with Ollie Watkins’ brace and Jhon Duran’s strike.
Despite Everton’s recent struggles, Cooper remains wary of the challenge they pose. “We’re taking every game as it comes and treating them with equal importance,” he explained.
“(Everton) have a lot of very good players and a very experienced manager. We have to focus on what we can bring. We’re excited about the game and being at home. It’s been a brilliant training week, I have to say, on the back of a difficult result and a really bad decision we’ve had to pick up with the Premier League.”
Leicester will be looking to get back to winning ways, but Everton’s desire to break their winless streak promises a tough contest.