28 December 2023 , 07:45
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Everton boss Sean Dyche was left seething following the Toffees' 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Manchster City after a controversial penalty decision.
His side welcomed the reigning champions to Goodison Park aiming to spring a surprise in a bid to boost their own hopes of Premier League survival. Things got off an to an ideal start after Jack Harrison fired the hosts in front and Everton went into the interval 1-0 up.
However, City emerged for the second-half up for the fight and a sensational strike from Phil Foden drew Pep Guardiola's men level. Soon after, the incident in question came when Amadou Onana was deemed to have used his hand to block Nathan Ake's strike, even though there was little more than a yard between them.
To add to the drama, John Brooks initially waved away protests for a penalty and pointed for a City corner, until his linesman advised him to point to the spot. That's exactly what he did and Julian Alvarez duly stepped up to score and put City in front.
Bernardo Silva capitalised on a Jordan Pickford error late on to put the game beyond any doubt. The goal came in the 86th minute and a number of the home faithful headed for the exit, knowing Everton's race was run.
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Come full-time, Dyche made his feelings on the penalty decision that swung the game in City's favour crystal clear. He told Amazon Prime: "We can debate the penalty all day. It has been by managers on Zoom calls to say it's a farce but that's the way it goes.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Were Man City fortunate to have been awarded a penalty against Everton? Comment below
Amadou Onana's block from the shot of Nathan Ake was deemed a handball and Man City were awarded a penalty"That's completely natural. He's not putting his arm up to save it, he's literally jumping in to try to block the ball. How that is given as a penalty is bizarre in my world but I must be from a different planet. Tonight the linesman gives that and he's 18 yards away so I don't know who is giving what any more.
"Who knows? All the managers are debating it. Someone needs to stand up at some point and realise that can't be a penalty because he's just throwing himself in front of it to try to block the ball, that's it."
Dyche did go on to concede his own side's shortcomings, making clear he felt Everton failed to respond to City's own tactical tweaks in the second half, but did double down on how impactful the controversial penalty decision was.
" Manchester City came out in the second half and played much longer which we didn't deal with. In the first half we were very good tactically. We had a great chance to get back in it. The penalty changes the feel of the game but when they get their noses in front, they are a hard team to get back to."