Frank Lampard was furious after the Manchester City game and lashed out at referee Chris Kavanagh, who was in charge of VAR for the match.
When Rodri’s outstretched arm touched the ball, everyone around the stadium was convinced it was a penalty. The Everton fans and players were even optimistic of getting a goal back and earning a hard-earned point from a game wherein the Toffees were the better side.
Against everyone’s conviction, VAR official Chris Kavanagh did not award a penalty after deliberating the decision for over two minutes. Even from the look on Manchester City players after the incident, they seemed convinced about the spot-kick.
With the decision ultimately going against Everton, Manchester City held on to their slender lead and ended up with three points, which they did not deserve from the context of the performances. Sure enough, the whole incident infuriated Frank Lampard, who lashed out at the official in his post-match comments.
As quoted by Sky Sports, Lampard said, “There is no doubt, there is no probably to it. The decision is 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.”
? “I’ve got a three-year-old daughter at home who could tell you that’s a penalty.”
Frank Lampard made his thoughts clear on Rodri’s controversial ‘handball’ ? pic.twitter.com/JIZXYFqhcl
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 26, 2022
“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,” he added.
Lampard was not done as he went on to claim his three-year-old daughter could have told it was a clear penalty. Meanwhile, the Everton boss continued his attack on VAR, suggesting some of their decision-making are questionable.
“I was calm; I was not shouting and ranting at him. I wanted to know if offside in the build-up, but I have been told it wasn’t in the build-up. Go to VAR; they have two minutes to look at it and to think they have not given that as a penalty when it strikes him on the arm, in an unnatural position. I have a three-year-old daughter at home who could tell you that was a penalty.”
“We are fighting at the bottom of the table, and they are fighting at the top. Decisions are crucial. I don’t know what has to happen as a reflection of that. A mistake is when you have done something wrong and don’t have time to think about it, they had two minutes to digest the handball. Even if the VAR says not sure, then go have a look. It is incompetence at best, if not that then someone needs to explain what it is.”
Everton’s unfortunate defeat to Manchester City puts them just a point ahead of the drop zone Embroiled in a relegation battle, the Toffees will be offered a welcome distraction when they take on Boreham Wood in the fifth round of the FA Cup in midweek.