Everton manager David Moyes has described the controversial decision to overturn a late penalty for his side in their 2-2 draw with Manchester United as “surprising.”
United came back from 2-0 down at Goodison Park thanks to second-half goals from Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte after Beto and Abdoulaye Doucouré had scored for the hosts before the break.
Everton looked set to be given the chance to win the game when referee Andrew Madley gave a spot-kick in stoppage time after Ashley Young looked to have been brought down by Harry Maguire inside the area.
However, after a review by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), Madley was instructed to go to the monitor and ultimately decided to overturn his original decision.
“I’ve had a look at it, and [Maguire] undoubtedly pulls his jersey,” Moyes told TNT Sports after the game. “After that, you have to make your own mind up. I thought the on-field decision looked the correct decision.
“I was a bit surprised [the referee] was asked to go to VAR because I thought it looked difficult to change your mind on that. But when you go to VAR, it’s as if the people who are watching on a screen understand more. It went against us today. I’m not going to complain too much about it but today it just didn’t go for us.”
The Premier League Match Centre account on X said the VAR on duty deemed that “no foul had been committed and recommended an on-field review.”
United boss Amorim said he believed Madley’s decision to cancel the penalty was the correct one.
“I think it was a soft touch from what I saw,” he said. “I think it was a soft penalty, it was clear.”
Reflecting on his team’s overall performance, Amorim added: “We need to win three points and we need to win the whole game. The worst part is that we are losing the ball without pressure and we are not doing what we need to do. We were soft.
“Everything we do in the week, we have to do better in the game. In this moment, we need to focus on day by day. We need to survive this season and then we can think ahead. I don’t want to just say the negative part. In the second half, we were close to win this game.”
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