A furious Everton manager Frank Lampard blasted VAR official Chris Kavanagh as “incompetent at best” and a “professional who cannot do his job right” after his side were denied a late penalty in the 1-0 defeat against Manchester City.
Phil Foden’s 82nd-minute goal was shortly followed by the ball striking the arm of midfielder Rodri.
Referee Paul Tierney had not given a decision on the pitch and VAR official Kavanagh ruled there was no reason to change that.
The fury of the home fans was matched by that of coach Ashley Cole, who was shown a yellow card for his protestations to Tierney after the final whistle.
“There is no doubt, there is no probably to it,” said Lampard on whether his side should have been awarded a spot-kick.
“The decision is incredible, incredible, and that loses us the opportunity to get what we deserved.
“That’s a VAR call. That’s Chris Kavanagh, I spoke to the referee and they know it is a penalty, the question is that is it offside and it wasn’t. That’s the reason we have VAR.
“It wouldn’t have needed more than five seconds to know it was a penalty. He (Kavanagh) should have either told the referee to give it or told him to go look at it.
“We’ve lost a point because of a professional who cannot do his job right.
“You start searching for whys and I can’t think why. It is so incompetent to get it wrong.
“Pep will know, Everton fans will know, Man City fans will know, it was the clearest penalty you could give: arm is out – great, below the sleeve – great, I was waiting for the penalty.
“Incompetence at best, at worst who knows?
“I’ll wait for the statement or apology they do when things are wrong but it will mean nothing.”
Lampard’s comments will almost inevitably attract the attention of the Football Association, who take a dim view of managers criticising the integrity of officials.
Pep Guardiola said he had not seen replays of the incident but believed the right decision had been made.
“When VAR reviews things anything can happen but I think the referee gave offisde for the pass from Dele Ali to Richarlison, that is what I figured out in that moment,” said the City boss, who admitted he had not had a chance to watch replays of the incident.
