Coventry suffered a 3-1 defeat to Everton on Friday, and manager Frank Lampard voiced his dissatisfaction with the refereeing decisions after the match, which he believes went against his team. Everton won thanks to a brace from Thierno Barry and a late goal from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, while Coventry took the lead after the break with a goal from Yann Gboho.
Lampard highlighted that his team should have been awarded a penalty in the first half for hair pulling. James Tarkowski pulled the hair of Caleb Yirenkyi while jumping for the ball, but referee Stuart Attwell dismissed the visitors' claims. Hair-pulling rules have been relaxed this season — pulling hair no longer means an automatic foul or red card, but force and intent are taken into account.
Lampard believes the referees made a mistake. 'They say it wasn't a strong enough pull, and I think that's a difficult area,' he said. 'I think the rules are fine. It's not a red card. If the rule remains that it is a foul, then I considered it a foul.'
The Coventry manager also believed that Taiwo Awoniyi was fouled by Vitalii Mykolenko before Coventry took the lead. Footage showed that the foul was outside the penalty area, but Lampard stuck to his guns: 'Taiwo is on the penalty box line for me — that's a penalty. The referee let it play, and I considered it a penalty.'
Lampard also expressed doubt that Barry handled the ball before his second goal. VAR Timothy Wood concluded there was no handball offence. 'Barry's goal is a hand, I heard them saying he didn't touch it with his hand, but I saw the angle where he deflected the ball with a final touch,' said Lampard.
On the other side, Everton manager David Moyes denied that Barry handled the ball. 'It definitely didn't hit his hand,' said Moyes. He also highlighted that the hair-pulling rule needs to be reconsidered. 'The hair-pulling rule has changed, so it would be a yellow card, but I still think it's ridiculous that it is a rule in the game,' he added.
The law was relaxed at the start of this season after three players were sent off for hair-pulling last season. For a penalty, Tarkowski's actions should be only a foul, not violent conduct. If it is accidental, it should not be a penalty.
In the early stages of the second half, there was a potential penalty when Mykolenko tangled with Awoniyi. A camera positioned at the edge of the penalty area showed that the contact was outside the area. VAR cannot intervene to award a free kick.
Barry's second goal came after the ball appeared to touch the striker's hand before entering the net. Nottingham Forest had a goal disallowed against Tottenham in a similar situation this season. VAR decided there was not enough conclusive evidence that the ball touched the hand.
The defeat left Coventry in 16th place in the Premier League, while Moyes' team climbed to fifth place.
