‘Robbed’ – Mark Clattenburg says Everton penalty claim v Man City was ‘shocker’
Everton were ‘right to feel robbed’ after not being awarded a penalty in their 1-0 defeat to Man City at the weekend, according to ex-referee Mark Clattenburg in the Daily Mail.
The Toffees slipped to 17th in the league following defeat thanks to a late Phil Foden goal, but the Blues felt they should have had a penalty when Rodri seemingly handled in his own box.
The referee didn’t give it and then a subsequent VAR check decided there was no offence to answer to, not even sending the referee to the pitch-side monitor to look himself. Clattenburg called it a ‘shocker’.
“This was the clearest handball I’ve ever seen that wasn’t given. Everton were right to feel robbed of a penalty,” he said.
“I can understand why referee Paul Tierney didn’t give it in real time. Maybe he didn’t have the best angle because he was looking at it from behind. But TV replays showed a clear handball by Rodri.
“The ball dropped down, the Manchester City midfielder misjudged the spin of it, and he controlled it with his arm.
“It touched his flesh – not the shirt sleeve. We saw that. And so did VAR Chris Kavanagh. Yet for some strange reason, Tierney wasn’t sent to his monitor to make up for missing the handball in real time.
“Had he been given a second chance to look at it, he would have awarded the penalty to Everton. This was a shocker.”
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On the balance of play you could argue City deserved their win, but Everton certainly have a case for being deserving of their point too.
They defended brilliantly throughout the game and in their battle against relegation it would have been a huge morale boost for the club to get a result against the dominant Man City.
These decisions could prove to be vital in the relegation race, just as the lack of goal-line technology was when Aston Villa managed to survive a few years ago.
It’s ridiculous that this type of thing is still happening, when it’s clear for everyone to see including Rodri himself that a penalty should’ve been awarded.
Lampard now has the seamless task of picking his side up after such a defeat and rousing them to get a good result in the FA Cup in midweek against Boreham Wood before returning to Premier League action at the weekend against Tottenham.
In other Everton news, ‘You’re right’ – Gary Neville shares verdict on Everton relegation battle