Everton wrongly denied handball penalty at West Ham – panel

Everton wrongly denied handball penalty at West Ham – panel

According to the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents panel, Everton should have been awarded a penalty during their 2-1 loss to West Ham after Mateus Fernandes committed a handball offense.

With David Moyes’ team down 1–0 in the 84th minute, the West Ham midfielder made contact with the ball using his hand while jostling with Thierno Barry. Moyes later commented, “He punched the ball. It would have been a harsh call, but I’m shocked it wasn’t given.”

On-field referee Stuart Attwell missed the incident and signaled for a goal-kick. VAR official Michael Salisbury decided against stepping in, arguing that Fernandes “accidentally handled the ball while grappling with an opponent.”

However, the panel overruled that interpretation, voting 4–1 that both the referee and VAR made mistakes. They determined the action “was not a footballing move and constituted a handball offense,” meaning a penalty should have been called.

The panel did agree unanimously with the referee and VAR that no penalty should have been given for Jordan Pickford’s challenge on Taty Castellanos in the 50th minute. Everton equalized shortly after through Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, but Callum Wilson scored a late winner for West Ham in stoppage time.

This marks the second VAR error against Everton this season, both involving missed penalties in one-goal defeats. The Toffees were also denied a spot-kick in a 1-0 loss to Arsenal in December following a William Saliba foul on Barry—Salisbury was the VAR for that match as well.

With three matchweeks remaining, Everton remain the only Premier League side without a single VAR decision overturned in their favor; no other team has fewer than two. Their last positive VAR outcome came in January 2025, when they earned a penalty at Brighton.

That said, Everton have benefited from four referee mistakes in their favor. These include a missed VAR intervention for a Wolves penalty in August, a penalty wrongly denied to Arsenal at the Emirates, and another to Chelsea in March—neither meeting the VAR intervention threshold.

Additionally, James Garner should have received a second yellow card against Aston Villa in January.