Why Everton's James Tarkowski conceded a penalty for handball against Leeds United

Everton felt aggrieved that a late penalty decision went against them at Elland Road in their opening fixture of the new season.

James Tarkowski was deemed to have handled the ball inside the penalty area as Anton Stach's shot took a deflection off Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and ricocheted off the central defender's arm.

The Everton man protested his innocence but a decision was made by the officiating team to award a spot-kick in Leeds' favour.

David Moyes: 'Tarky [James Tarkowski] would need to chop his arm off'

Summer signing Nmecha stepped up and slotted his effort from 12 yards low beyond Jordan Pickford in the Toffees' net, despite guessing the right way.

Everton manager David Moyes shared his frustrations at the decision after the match.

"I spoke to the referee. They seem to think that because you lean, your arms can go away," he told Sky Sports.

"You're allowed to lean in football, unless someone's going to pull one of these rules out that if you lean, it's a penalty.

"The ball took a deflection, I don't know where Tarky [Tarkowski] would have had to get his arm chopped off. It wasn't outside his body; it wasn't doing anything different.

Tarkowski, meanwhile, said in an interview with Sky: “It’s not a penalty. As soon as the ref blew, I was pretty confident it was going to get overturned. My first question to him was, ‘If my arm was by my side, which it was, is it a penalty?’ To which he said no.”

Why did referee Chris Kavanagh award a penalty to Leeds?

Tarkowski's appeal hinged on the fact that his left arm was tucked closely into his body. However, the decision by the officials was that the experienced centre-back had moved his upper body towards the ball.

In doing so, he had gained an advantage in stopping the ball's unobstructed path towards the Everton goal, by using his arm, even though it was in what is widely deemed a 'natural position'.

"VAR had a chance to get that decision right and I felt like it wasn't fair," Moyes added.

"We can't do anything about it now, but it's a poor decision."

Why didn't VAR overturn Kavanagh's decision?

Chief refereeing officer for the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) Howard Webb has previously explained the legislation around handball in English football.

"We've said to the officials only penalise when you form the professional judgment that the player's deliberately handled it," Webb said on The Overlap. "You know what those situations are where you can just see the movement, or even if a player leans into the ball with the arm away, that's handball as well."