Same story, same outcome, same anger and frustration. During a tough festive fixture list, VAR has haunted Everton like the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. That feeling has now been extended into the new year.
The pull on Amadou Onana in the box at Tottenham Hotspur that was dismissed as an irrelevance. The foul by Andre Gomes in the same game that was waved away by officials just yards away but then reviewed to cost Everton a route back into a game they were the better side in.
The handball at Goodison Park that gave club world champions Manchester City the penalty that helped them edge clear when Onana could do little to evade a close-range rocket fired at him in the box. And now a new venue, in a new year, has witnessed the latest in the growing list of questionable decisions going against the Blues. This time it was a straight red card for Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Same story, same outcome - Everton punished on the pitch and in games to come.
This latest decision did not cost Sean Dyche's side a place in the FA Cup. A tangible marker of how far they have come was that even with 10 men they created the best opportunity in the final minutes at Selhurst Park. But once again they leave a stadium feeling justifiably aggrieved. That is the feeling in the stands and in the dressing room. Blues boss Dyche remains at pains to stress he supports the use of technology in making key decisions. But he is running out of patience.
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