LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) – Everton manager Sean Dyche criticized the handball laws after his team lost 3-1 to Manchester City in the Premier League on Wednesday.
Everton were tied 1-1 with the champions when Amadou Onana attempted to block a shot by City’s Nathan Ake. The ball hit Onana’s arm from close range, and referee John Brooks awarded a penalty after being directed by his assistant on the touchline.
VAR chose not to overturn the decision and Julian Alvarez scored the penalty to make it 2-1, with Bernardo Silva sealing the win for City later on.
Handball decisions have been under scrutiny since the introduction of VAR, with the interpretation of whether the arm is in a “natural” position often being subjective.
“We can debate the penalty all day. It has been called a farce by managers on Zoom calls, but that’s the way it goes,” Dyche told Amazon Prime.
“That’s completely natural. He’s not putting his arm up to save it, he’s literally jumping in to try to block the ball. How that is given as a penalty is bizarre in my world but I must be from a different planet.
“Tonight the linesman gives that and he’s 18 yards away so I don’t know who is giving what any more. Who knows? All the managers are debating it. Someone needs to stand up at some point and realize that can’t be a penalty because he’s just throwing himself in front of it to try to block the ball.”
Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg, speaking to Amazon Prime, said Brooks made the right decision.
“No one is saying that the decision is wrong but we are saying that by the way the law is written, it is wrong and therefore that is something that needs changing,” he said.
“We are seeing some given and some not given every week.”
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)
