The Premier League have confirmed Everton were wrongly denied a penalty against Arsenal.
David Moyes’ side slipped to a 1-0 defeat against the current leaders in their final pre-Christmas fixture on December 20 at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
But the Blues could have drawn level when Thierno Barry was fouled by William Saliba as the opposing defender attempted to clear the ball.
Despite the forward being kicked in the foot by Saliba, the league’s Match Centre claimed that contact ‘wasn’t deemed sufficient’ to award a penalty.
However the Key Match Incidents Panel has ruled that referee Sam Barrott and video assistant referee Michael Salisbury both made an incorrect call.
A vote of three-to-two concluded that Salisbury should have sent Barrott to the monitor to assess the incident rather than making a snap decision.
“Saliba carelessly kicks Barry with no contact on the ball” and they felt it was a clear and obvious error,” the panel stated.
“Two panellists supported the no-penalty call because ‘there was not enough impact and a delayed reaction’.”
Moyes admitted that he was ‘half-choking’ that a similar decision in Fulham’s win over Nottingham Forest just two days later saw a penalty awarded.