Premier League release statement on Everton penalty saga v Man United
Everton have been given an answer by the Premier League after their penalty against Manchester United was overturned.
Ashley Young looked to have been fouled by Harry Maguire towards the end of the fixture on Saturday (22 February), and initially, Andy Madley pointed to the spot.
VAR then called the referee over to the monitor for a second look at the incident and changed his original decision.
While the Goodison faithful and David Moyes will arguably be unhappy as they could have won in the end, the Premier League have explained the decision.
Everton handed Premier League statement after Manchester United controversy
After the Toffees were denied a spot kick, the English top flight immediately explained Madley’s decision.
The Premier League disclosed that VAR deemed no foul had been committed at Goodison Park in stoppage time as the game ended 2-2.
An on-field review was subsequently advised, leading to the referee overturning his initial call.
On X (22 February), the Premier League stated: “VAR checked the referee’s call of penalty to Everton for a challenge by Maguire on Young and deemed that no foul had been committed and recommended an on-field review. The referee overturned the original decision, and play restarted with a drop ball.”
| Stats | Everton | Manchester United |
| Possession | 38 per cent | 62 per cent |
| xG | 1.85 | 0.41 |
| Shots on target | 8 | 3 |
| Big chances | 4 | 1 |
Moyes to be angry after penalty decision v Manchester United
Moyes almost got a win over Man United after his team took a two-goal lead in the first half through Beto and Abdoulaye Doucoure.
Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte poured cold water on the Toffees’ ideas as they beat Jordan Pickford to make a comeback.
Ruben Amorim’s team were poor at Goodison Park for most of the fixture but still ended up getting a point away from home.
Young was impressive after coming on as a substitute and could have ended up being one of the heroes had VAR not gone against the referee’s original call.
The Goodison faithful will be disappointed with the officials as Maguire arguably impeded the 39-year-old before he went down in the box.
While getting a draw against the Red Devils isn’t a small feat, the Blues will be disappointed with the manner in which they gave up their lead.
The Friedkin Group will still be delighted with Moyes as he has steered the Merseyside outfit clear of the relegation zone.
With everything said and done, the Blues can’t lose much sleep over the penalty incident as they face Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on Wednesday (26 February).