Everton's fury over the denied penalty against Manchester City looks even more justified after the Key Match Incidents panel confirmed three more VAR errors, taking the Premier League total to 23 this season. David Moyes' complaint was not just post-match noise either. The panel agreed Everton should have had the spot-kick in a game that finished 3-3 after Jeremy Doku's stoppage-time equaliser.
Why Everton's case has become the main VAR argument
This is the clearest example of the wider problem because it hits two points at once. First, the panel backed Everton's complaint. Second, Everton are the only team not to receive a VAR intervention in their favour this season.
That combination makes the grievance hard to brush aside as standard managerial frustration. Everton sit 10th with 49 points from 36 matches, so this is not a title-race story or a relegation panic story. But that does not make the decision any less serious, especially when the official review process has now accepted 23 errors across the league.
The incident itself was straightforward in the panel's reading. Merlin Röhl was held by Bernardo Silva at a corner, and the review panel said "there is a clear, sustained holding offence which continues as the corner is taken and the ball comes into play".
That matters because it shuts down the softest defence of the call. Per the BBC report cited in the brief, the issue was not contact that had ended before the ball was live. The panel's view was that the holding continued into the active phase, which is why the penalty should have been given.
Moyes did not dress it up. Speaking to bbc.co.uk, the Everton manager said: "If that doesn't get given as a penalty, then it's an absolute free-for-all from now on".
It is hard to argue with that frustration when the same process later says the call was wrong. Everton were denied the penalty, then conceded when Doku made it 3-3 in stoppage time. The match was not decided by a penalty, but the missed intervention plainly changed the late context.
The bigger issue is the number, not just one decision
A total of 23 confirmed VAR errors is the story here. That is already six more than the 17 at the same stage last season, according to the stats in the brief, and it pushes the debate well beyond one club feeling sorry for itself.
The reason Everton's case stands out is that it brings the league-wide count into one very visible moment. A sustained shirt pull at a corner is not some impossible judgement call at the edge of the laws. If VAR cannot fix that, the sales pitch for the system gets weaker.
There was more in the same report. West Ham should also have been given two penalties in their 3-0 loss at Brentford. One involved Keane Lewis-Potter on Tomáš Souček, while the other came from Bournemouth's Marcos Senesi challenging Souček.
That part does need a little care. The brief says the West Ham point should be presented with both elements in view, because one of those incidents did not meet the VAR threshold. Still, the broader picture does not improve for the officials. West Ham are 18th with 36 points from 36 matches, so missed calls there carry obvious weight too.
What happens next for the Premier League and Everton
The Premier League will not get away from this by treating every bad call as an isolated error. When the panel keeps adding to the total, the pattern becomes the story.
For Everton, the anger is easy to understand because there is now both a specific ruling and a season-long trend behind it. They were denied a penalty against Manchester City, the panel later said it should have been given, and they remain the only side without a VAR intervention in their favour.
That does not prove bias and the brief does not support going that far. It does show a system having another bad week, with Everton once again at the centre of it.
FAQ
Why are Everton complaining about VAR again?
Everton's latest complaint came after they were denied a penalty against Manchester City when Bernardo Silva held Merlin Röhl at a corner before Jeremy Doku's stoppage-time equaliser made it 3-3. The Premier League's Key Match Incidents panel later said the penalty should have been given.
How many VAR mistakes has the Premier League confirmed this season?
The Key Match Incidents panel has confirmed 23 VAR errors this Premier League season. That is the figure at the centre of the latest debate, with Everton's penalty complaint against Manchester City becoming the clearest example in the report.
Have Everton had any VAR decisions go in their favour this season?
No. Everton are the only team not to receive a VAR intervention in their favour this season. That is a big part of why David Moyes' frustration has carried weight after the panel backed Everton's complaint over the Manchester City incident.
Were West Ham also affected by VAR in the same report?
Yes. The same panel report found that West Ham should have been given two penalties in their 3-0 loss at Brentford. One involved Keane Lewis-Potter and Tomáš Souček, while the other was a challenge by Bournemouth's Marcos Senesi on Souček.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →
