Everton v Nottingham Forest: Pundit issues verdict on controversy
Michael Ball has shared his verdict on the controversial decision as Everton picked up a crucial away win against Nottingham Forest.
Dwight McNeil’s goal saw the Toffees win 1-0 but Forest arguably had a chance to get back when Abdoulaye Doucoure was guilty of committing a foul inside the penalty area.
However, the referee waved it off and there was no indication from the VAR to go and have another look at it either.
Ball told the Liverpool Echo: “We probably got away with a penalty after a foul from Abdoulaye Doucoure. At the time I thought it was a penalty – it was right in front of me. I was surprised it wasn’t given by VAR, so that’s a bit of luck we needed too.
“We got let off the hook at times, especially in the second half. Forest started smelling a bit of blood and if they had more quality we could’ve dropped a couple of points.”
Spot on
Even the most ardent Toffees fans would say that they got lucky with that decision as penalties are given for a lot less.
It was interesting to see that the VAR did not even ask the referee to have a second look at it.
Had this decision gone against Everton, there would’ve been an uproar on social media and perhaps from Sean Dyche as well.
Rightly so, the refereeing this season has been one of the worst in recent seasons and every week, the officials find ways to make things even worse.
However, with all that’s going on at Everton, nobody will care about this controversy or the manner of the victory.
Going to the City Ground and picking up three points was a tough ask but they’ve managed to do it and rise to the occasion.
Dyche has shown that this team can fight adversity and rather than allowing things to get worse, the players have used it as fuel to drive them forward.
In other Everton news, Peter Reid has issued a £1billion ‘Crime’ admission as he fumes over a recent Toffees development.