Howard Webb adamant over Everton controversy. Credit: Sky Sports' Match Official Mic'd Up
Howard Webb adamant over Everton controversy. Credit: Sky Sports' Match Official Mic'd Up
Match

Howard Webb adamant over contentious Everton decision that left fans furious

Harri Burton
Harri Burton

Senior Correspondent AUTHORITY Senior football journalist specialising in refereeing and officiating; former contributor to The Football League Paper, Late Tackle, and the Premier League; University of Derby graduate. FOCUS Refereeing controversies, football finance and governance, PGMOL decisions, and officiating analysis across the Premier League, EFL, and SPFL. THE INSIGHT Harri utilises a network of officiating and industry contacts to deliver verified, expert analysis of refereeing decisions and PGMOL policy. He provides the regulatory clarity behind the controversy to ensure fans get the full picture.

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Howard Webb believes VAR was right to overturn the decision to award Dominic Calvert-Lewin a penalty in Everton versus Brighton.

While the Toffees went on to lose the Premier League clash 3-0 on 17 August, the incident happened at 1-0, and the decision could have changed the end result.

Fans were furious to see their side's spot-kick overturned at Goodison Park, though the PGMOL chief has now explained the decision.

Speaking via Sky Sports' Match Officials Mic'd Up [17 September], Webb said: "I am [happy], 100%. The referee's call on the day was a penalty, believing that Lewis Dunk pulled Calvert-Lewin's leg away with his foot.

"It's not what happened. What happened is that Calvert-Lewin put his foot down onto Dunk, which is very different from what the referee saw. You can hear Darren England say quite quickly, 'That's not a penalty'.

"Sometimes, the referee's call will be clearly and obviously wrong, and this is a good example of the decision being wrong and intervention being needed."

Howard Webb explains decision over Everton controversy v Brighton

The actual decisions are rarely ever the problem among fans in the Premier League. The issue normally lies with the consistency shown by the referees in England.

However, there seem to be few arguments that can be made after Webb's detailed walkthrough of the controversial moment, which is what the show is there to do.

Calvert-Lewin will, undoubtedly, feel hard done by with the decision, which is normal as a goal-hungry striker, and some fans will still try to argue the case that the penalty should have stood.

Those decisions have certainly been awarded in other games, which is really what infuriates fans. However, a penalty call like this is down to personal opinion, with Simon Hooper and England seeing the incident differently.

Of course, with how the rest of Sean Dyche's campaign has gone since this moment, it is just a small incident in a torrid campaign for the Toffees so far. This seems like a distant memory now.

In other Everton news, Ally McCoist has mooted a "disaster" at Goodison Park after what he's seen this season.

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Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Howard Webb
Brighton
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