Stuart Attwell VAR incidents in Everton win v Nottingham Forest draw unanimous panel verdicts
Nottingham Forest should have been awarded one penalty in their defeat to Everton in the view of the Premier League’s Independent Key Match Incidents Panel, ESPN reports.
According to the outlet’s website (29 April) the panel’s findings have been seen and it was decided by a count of 5-0 that Ashley Young’s second-half challenge on Callum Hudson-Odoi should have been penalised, and it was an error by VAR Stuart Attwell not to recommend a review.
The panel found: “Young inherits the risk by going to ground from the wrong side and Hudson-Odoi beats him to the ball. It is a foul.”
However, in a game where Forest were furious with Attwell over three appeals, accusing him of bias due to being a Luton Town fan and sparking an explosion of controversy as a result, it was decided that the other two shouts which were ignored by Anthony Taylor were not errors.
On a first-half challenge on Giovanni Reyna it was decided: “The ball isn’t played, there is contact by the defender on the attacker but any contact is minimal and is exaggerated by the attacker, and falls below the high threshold for a penalty.”
And while a possible Young handball saw the panel split 3-2 in favour of Taylor’s decision not to award a penalty they were unanimous 5-0 that it didn’t warrant a VAR review, calling it “a very subjective call. Young’s arm is out and blocks a cross but the ball hits from close proximity”.
Everton won the game 2-0, while Forest are now under investigation by the FA over their angry reaction.
Ashley Young gets away with one Everton penalty concession
The findings are unlikely to quell any of the rage at the City Ground but, from an official stand point, suggests the Toffees weren’t not worth their victory.
It seems plausible that if either of the first two decisions had been given they wouldn’t have been overturned, and it is impossible to say how the game would have played out if Forest had scored from the spot at any point.
But goals from Idrissa Gana Gueye and Dwight McNeil ultimately sparked a crucial three-game winning streak which has now secured Everton another season in the Premier League, pending yet further concerning issues on the takeover front.
That the panel, made up of three former players or coaches and one representative from the Premier League and PGMOL respectively, found there was one error out of three in a game decided by two goals will likely be seen as extremely convenient by those who were left furious at Goodison Park on the day.
Forest bosses were so angry they had tried to release their controversial statement at half-time, only to be talked down by their media chief.
And former PGMOL boss Keith Hackett’s view was that two should definitely have been given and possibly a third, while Jamie Carragher insisted the handball was a penalty, so there is clearly an element of subjectivity.
But although it is unlikely to be satisfactory at Forest the match is now water under the bridge for Sean Dyche and the Toffees after Everton subsequently beat Liverpool and Brentford to stay up, as long as the financial situation doesn’t snatch safety away.
In other Everton news, The Esk has shared whether the 777 Partners takeover will be done by the end of April.
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