Hackett View: Everton shouldn’t have been awarded penalty v Tottenham
We’re delighted to welcome former Premier League referee Keith Hackett as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Everton.
Keith Hackett believes Everton shouldn’t have been awarded a penalty in their Premier League tie with Tottenham on Friday.
The Toffees drew 2-2 at Goodison Park, with two defensive errors costing them three points against an underwhelming Spurs side.
Gylfi Sigurdsson scored both of Everton’s goals, the first of which came from the penalty spot after James Rodriguez was adjudged to have been fouled in the box by Sergio Reguilon.
Talking exclusively to Goodison News, former referee Hackett however expressed his thoughts on the spot-kick decision, claiming that Michael Oliver made a mistake in awarding it.
Hackett said: “So Michael Oliver is in a great position to view that incident. My first view was that it’s not a penalty kick, and having then reviewed it on VAR, I’ve thought that the player has fooled Michael Oliver.
“So Im then looking for VAR to step in. I think we have this continual dialogue over ‘what is clear and obvious’, and from me sat in my seat with a second view, it’s not a penalty kick, it is clear and obvious, and then one has to say why didn’t Andre Mariner, the VAR, come in.
“Not a penalty kick, not for me.”
By and large there has been a mixed response to the penalty decision, with some like Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp believing the decision to award the spot-kick was correct.
Rodriguez did appear to go to ground under little contact, but ultimately it comes to whether the referee believed that the little contact was enough to send him over.
Unfortunately for the Toffees they couldn’t make the most of their opportunities against Spurs however, throwing points away through slack defending and avoidable individual errors.
In other Everton news, Blues defender wanted by high-flying club but Brands sets £17m+ demand.
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