Credit: The Emirates FA Cup on Youtube

Declan Carr

Sat 14 March 2026 16:17, UK

Everton Under-18s were dumped out of the FA Youth Cup in controversial circumstances on Friday evening.

The match was goalless in the 57th minute when the hosts were awarded a penalty, despite Demi Akarikiri appearing to win the ball.

Floyd Samba found the net from the spot, and the young Toffees’ problems spiralled from there, with Malik Olayiwola shown a red card just minutes later.

City went on to win 3-0 and knock Everton’s academy side out of the competition.

What did Keith Southern say about the incident?

Everton Under-18s manager Keith Southern was outraged with the way that his side were eliminated from the tournament.

He took exception to both the penalty decision and the red card, saying: “I think it was a poor decision. I think we were let down in that regard, it was quite cruel.

“It’s about development and the players. I just felt really sick for the lads to be honest.

“It was a cruel way to exit something that’s been really positive throughout this season.”

Southern’s frustrations are fully justified as the calls from referee Richie Watkins were really harsh and could have went the other way.

Keith Hackett speaks out over Everton Under 18 penalty call

Keith Hackett, the former PGMOL chief has called out the penalty incident, as he believes that it was not a penalty at all.

Speaking exclusively to Goodison News, he said: “This is not a foul and therefore the award of a penalty kick is the wrong decision.”

Southern may not want to see Hackett’s comments, as it will surely only make him feel even worse about it.

Why Everton’s talents should still feel proud

Everton’s academy starlets can still feel proud despite the heavy defeat, they gave as much as they got for most of the contest, before circumstance went against them.

They showed great heart in the previous rounds, in the extra-time win over Ipswich Town and the penalty shootout victory against West Ham.

Douglass Lukjanciks and Braiden Graham came out of the run with enormous credit, and the hype surrounding those two talents have gone up another level.

Hopefully, we will see some of the youngsters that played in the first-team, sooner rather than later, that may soften the blow of the City game, but it will sting for a while, especially given the fact that they were on the wrong end of a decision that changed the contest.

They will have to pull up their socks and go again next season, and try to avenge the injustice that they suffered this time.