Dejan Kulusevski penalty decisions stink - enough is enough now for Everton
Is Brighton & Hove Albion’s penalty for Dejan Kulusevski’s shirt-tugging the point at which long-suffering Evertonians declare, 'enough is enough', because it’s all getting very blatant now.
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Kulusevski got away with daylight robbery in north London when he was captured on camera almost ripping the shirt off Amadou Onana’s back. At least he had the decency to wear a comic book ‘burglar’s mask’ while he committed his crime, but for beleaguered Blues this was no laughing matter.
Referee Stuart Attwell did not award Everton a penalty and fans commented on how Match of the Day seemed to ignore the incident all together in their highlights package of the game, but as this correspondent observed at the time, Andre Gomes applies a comparable amount of pressure as a maitre d’ ushering you to your seat in a restaurant on Emerson Royal before setting up Dominic Calvert-Lewin for his goal and VAR rule it out. Even Mike Dean, a former referee with 22 years’ experience whose personal football allegiances lie elsewhere on Merseyside, disagreed with the decision and described it as “minimal contact” and “very soft.”
A mere five days later though, Kulusevski is up to his old tricks again when he has a yank of Danny Welbeck’s jersey. Although referee Jarred Gillett doesn’t give the decision in real time, on this occasion the spot-kick is given following a VAR check with the Sky Sports commentator observing: “That has to be a penalty, you can’t get away with that.”
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