Arsenal beat Everton 1-0 on Saturday thanks to a penalty from Victor Gokeres, but David Moyes’ home side believed they should have been awarded the spot-kick.
Everton manager David Moyes said he would “probably be fined” if he shared his on-field conversation with referee Sam Ballot after his team’s defeat to Arsenal. The match went down to two penalties, with Arsenal winning the penalty, but Everton denying them a chance to equalize from the spot.
VAR checks were carried out following accidents involving Arsenal defender William Saliba and Everton striker Tierno Barry. In the end, the on-field decision not to penalize was upheld, but Moyes didn’t seem too happy about it.
Moyes told Sky Sports: “I’d like to talk about it[with the referee]but I’ll probably get a fine.” “You either need to talk about refereeing or find a way to avoid asking me.”
“A lot of things went wrong and things didn’t go our way. We had quite a few people down and the referee was furious for them. This is a different football club. We play tough and we expect the same from the referees.”
A statement from Premier League Match Center said: “The referee’s no-penalty decision for Everton was confirmed by VAR and it was determined that the contact from Saliba to Barry was not sufficient to warrant a penalty.” Moyes added: “They will come up with new words for every decision.”
read more: Transfer News LIVE: Arsenal ‘contact’, Semenyo backs club, Manchester United backs with £43m offerread more: Despite Arsenal winning, Victor Gokeres delivered a cruel verdict: “Not enough!”
Despite the defeat, Everton remain in the top half of the table, but their lack of goals may be a cause for concern. Only Nottingham Forest and Wolves have scored fewer goals than Moyes’ side, but six clean sheets are nothing to snort about.
Meanwhile, Arsenal secured their 12th win from 17 games, guaranteeing them top spot at Christmas. But the past two games were both nerve-wracking games, with the Wolves needing a last-minute winner at home before winning at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Victor Gokeres scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot following a handball from Jake O’Brien, and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was delighted to see the Swede score his first goal since returning from injury at the end of November. “That’s what I wanted, they have to take the initiative on the pitch. They decided that Victor was the best taker and he scored the goal, so it’s a great decision,” the manager said.
“We have to enjoy the process of winning and it’s going to be difficult moments, tough moments, great moments. It’s all part of the intention and how close we are to winning, that’s why we have to enjoy it and take it one game at a time.”
He also suggested the Gunners could have made things a little easier for themselves, saying: “We had three big open chances but if you want to be more relaxed at the end you need to take those chances in the Premier League. Those moments have to be more clinical to get a bigger margin.”
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