Ex-refs & pundits agree on Arsenal penalty claim vs Everton | OneFootball

Ex-refs and pundits have spoken out against the decision not to award Arsenal a penalty against Everton, with one former official suggesting it even deserved a red card.

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Though Arsenal ended up securing a late win over Everton on Saturday afternoon, their job might have been a lot easier if Kai Havertz had been awarded a penalty for a foul by Michael Keane in the first half.

It initially looked like Keane had pushed Havertz to the ground, but replays showed the Everton defender had also stood on the Arsenal player’s ankle.

The referee waved away the appeals, and VAR quickly checked and cleared the decision. But Sky Sports pundits Daniel Sturridge and Jamie Redknapp were emphatic in their assessment of the foul in their half-time TV analysis.

“There’s enough (for an overturn), yeah,” Sturridge said. “We can clearly see he’s kicked him. It’s clear.”

“It’s so clear,” Redknapp agreed. “How on earth have VAR taken three seconds to say that’s not a penalty, I’ll never know. That’s a horrendous decision, it’s definitely a penalty, it should be overturned.

“We see VAR sometimes with decisions that everyone at home can see is not a penalty, or not a bad decision, it takes 5-10 minutes. That (Havertz foul), they’ve taken three seconds and said it’s not a penalty. It’s an absolute disgrace that that’s not been given.”

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Former referee Keith Hackett went one further than suggesting it should have been a penalty, adding that Keane should also have been shown a red card for the foul.

Though the contact itself was hardly worthy of a sending off, Havertz was in on goal, and Keane wasn’t attempting to play the ball. So if a penalty had been awarded, a red card would definitely have been a reasonable decision.

“The offence on Havertz should have resulted in a penalty kick and, because it’s denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity, a red card,” Hackett said. “The referee fails to make a decision, he’s hoping that a life belt is going to be thrown by VAR to get him to go the screen to have another look.

“But it doesn’t happen. Nothing happens. The offence is complete ignored. It’s just like the Chuckle Brothers – to me, to you, to me, you.”

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The PGMOL were very lucky that Max Dowman stole the show in the final minutes and changed the narrative of the game, because the refereeing organisation would have come under heavy fire if that hadn’t been the case.

It seems inevitable that we’ll soon be hearing that the Key Match Incidents Panel have confirmed that a mistake was made here. Arsenal themselves were lucky the error didn’t significantly damage their title challenge.