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Jamie Redknapp believes Everton were justly awarded penalty v Tottenham
Jamie Redknapp believes Everton were justly awarded a penalty against Tottenham last night in a frustrating 2-2 draw at Goodison Park.
Gylfi Sigurdsson dispatched just after the half hour mark after Sergio Reguilon was adjudged to have collided with and fouled James Rodriguez on the edge of the box.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether James had gone down too easily or not, with television replays showing the Colombian kick the turf before going to ground.
Speaking on Sky Sports (Friday, 10pm) however, Redknapp firmly believed that referee Michael Oliver made the right decision to award the spot-kick.
Redknapp said: “It’s a difficult one. Reguilon and James come together, there’s the contact just there. With players now it’s very hard to trust them because of their reactions, but there is definitely contact and that’s why he kicks the floor.
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“The second angle, what’s the most conclusive for me is Reguilon’s reaction. You can’t always trust players… there’s the situation, Reguilon comes into the back of James.
“The first thing Reguilon does, he sort of complains and then nothing. He gets up, he’s dejected, he walks away.
“You know now with VAR you can get in the referee’s face and get him to have a look at it. He knows there’s been contact. It’s not much but it’s enough.
“It’s a slight touch but it is a penalty for me.”
Golden opportunity
Upon first glance it did appear as though Everton were fortuitous to be awarded a penalty against Spurs.
James Rodriguez has somewhat of a reputation for going down easily under pressure, and the replays couldn’t exactly make the decision any more clear-cut.
However Redknapp makes a valuable point regarding Reguilon’s reaction, or lack thereof, and it’s a shame that Everton couldn’t make more of the opportunity.
The Blues had a real opportunity to claim a huge three points against Tottenham and reignite their European dreams, but through two farcical defensive blunders they have all but extinguished any remaining hopes.
It will be a huge blow to Everton’s plans for the summer, with transfer recruitment often easier when European football can be used as a persuasion tactic, but there were certainly positive elements to the clubs performance.
Rodriguez has never been better in an Everton shirt than he was against Spurs, and Carlo Ancelotti will now hope that if he can remain fit we could get to see a true magician at work at Goodison Park.