Premier League panel rule Everton were wrongly denied penalty vs Arsenal as reason explained

Premier League panel rule Everton were wrongly denied penalty vs Arsenal as reason explained

Everton should have been awarded a penalty during their 1-0 defeat to Arsenal, according to a verdict from the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel.

The controversial moment came in the 57th minute at Hill Dickinson Stadium on December 20, with Arsenal already leading through a Viktor Gyökeres penalty.

William Saliba was judged to have clipped Everton striker Thierno Barry inside the box, but referee Sam Barrott waved play on. At the time, the Premier League Match Centre explained the decision by stating the contact was “not deemed sufficient” to warrant a spot-kick.

However, the decision came under scrutiny just 48 hours later when Fulham were awarded a penalty in their 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest for a near-identical incident, as Douglas Luiz fouled Kevin. That inconsistency sparked frustration from Everton boss David Moyes.

Watching the Fulham incident, Moyes admitted he was left “half choking,” adding:
“It feels like certain clubs seem to get those decisions and others don’t — and we seem to be on the wrong side of that. They [PGMOL] don’t make it easy. They’ll have conversations, but they don’t really want to explain the decisions.”

Now, the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents Panel has confirmed that Everton were hard done by. In a 3–2 vote, the panel ruled that the on-field decision not to award a penalty was incorrect. They also concluded, by the same margin, that VAR Michael Salisbury should have recommended an on-field review.

Three panel members stated that “Saliba carelessly kicks Barry with no contact on the ball,” classifying it as a clear and obvious error. Two others, however, felt the contact lacked sufficient force and cited a delayed reaction from the Everton forward.

Each KMI Panel consists of five members: three former players or coaches, alongside one Premier League representative and one from the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMOL).

The panel also delivered verdicts on other contentious incidents from the same round of fixtures. They ruled 3–2 that VAR Peter Bankes was correct not to award Newcastle United a penalty in their 2-2 draw with Chelsea, when Anthony Gordon went down under a challenge from Trevoh Chalobah.

Additionally, the panel unanimously agreed that Xavi Simons’ red card in Tottenham’s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool was correct, as was the decision to allow Hugo Ekitiké’s goal to stand.

Despite Brentford boss Thomas Frank calling for the strike to be disallowed due to a shove on Cristian Romero, the panel concluded there was “not enough contact for a foul,” especially given the high threshold for such decisions. Romero’s later second yellow card was also upheld by a 4–1 vote.