The Premier League have outlined why Myles Lewis-Skelly’s controversial penalty against Everton was upheld.
Arsenal star Lewis-Skelly drew the attention of referee Darren England when he hauled down Everton‘s Jack Harrison inside the box barely a minute into the second half of the 1-1 draw.
Replays showed both men had their hands all over one another’s shirt, but Lewis-Skelly was deemed to have gone overboard with it as England awarded a penalty.
Arsenal vehemently protested England’s call, which was checked by VAR.
But VAR told England to stick with his call and the Premier League Match Centre on X has explained why.
“The referee’s call of penalty for the challenge by Lewis-Skelly on Harrison was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the contact deemed to be sufficient for a penalty and inside the area,” the statement read.
However, Nottingham Forest great Stuart Pearce questioned whether the amount of contact involved warranted a penalty.
“This could be interesting actually when they review this again,” Pearce said on commentary for talkSPORT.
“How much of a contact is there? Lewis-Skelly’s got caught underneath the ball, he’s leant backwards, he’s claiming that he was pushed. Harrison’s claiming he was.
“It was certainly a cheap collapse, there wasn’t a great deal in it.
“But whether the referee’s going to turn round and overturn that or VAR or your guess is as good as mine.”
Ultimately, it wasn’t, and Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye coolly slotted home the spot kick to cancel out Leandro Trossard‘s opener in the first half.
It was just the second time Everton had been awarded a penalty this season, with the other coming against Brighton on January 25.
Lewis-Skelly’s afternoon came to an end in the 75th minute as he was taken off for Kieran Tierney.
Neither side could find a winner at Goodison Park, ensuring Arsenal have beaten Everton on their home turf just once in the last seven seasons.
The result means Liverpool can extend their gap over the Gunners at the top of the Premier League to 14 points should they beat Fulham on Sunday.
Arsenal may also be nervously looking over their shoulders now too given third-placed Nottingham Forest are only five points behind and are yet to play this weekend.
As for Everton, the draw moved them up to 14th ahead of Tottenham.
However, the Toffees could end the weekend in 16th should Ange Postecoglou’s side get a result against last-placed Southampton and West Ham United beat Bournemouth.
More to follow…
