Sean Dyche felt the decision to award Manchester United a penalty in their victory over Everton was ‘bizarre’.
The Toffees suffered a 3-0 loss to the Red Devils in their first game since being hit with a 10-point deduction by the Premier League for breaching financial rules.
Alejandro Garnacho opened the scoring for United inside three minutes with a sizzling bicycle kick. Everton had enough chances to equalise before half-time, though, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Dwight McNeil and Abdoulaye Doucoure all spurning golden opportunities.
Early in the second half, Red Devils forward Anthony Martial went to ground in the box when challenged by Ashley Young. On-field referee John Brooks initially booked Martial for diving although VAR intervened. Brooks was sent to the pitch-side monitor to review the incident, subsequently overturning his decision and awarding a penalty that Marcus Rashford fired home. Martial added a third for United with 15 minutes remaining to leave Everton in the relegation zone.
On the penalty decision, Blues manager Dyche told Sky Sports: “It’s bizarre. There’s no point. I feel for fans. We all know what’s going to happen. The VAR thing this year, it’s been all over the place. It’s the simplest thing but it seems to be mayhem all the time.
“You’re 2-0 down all of a sudden from a nothing moment, one you think has gone for you. It’s not just about that but it doesn’t help.
“This season we’ve created a lot of chances and not scored goals. Our mentality will serve us well this season. Ten points taken away from anyone will change their season. Until the appeals process goes through we have to play away the noise.”
