Everton’s win over Nottingham Forest was once completely dominated by VAR drama, but the hosts will not care.
All that mattered was that they secured three points, and having now done so they are in a real position of strength to avoid the drop again.
With Sean Dyche’s wardrobe change turning heads, and Dwight McNeil and Idrissa Gana Gueye both firing home fine long-range strikers to secure the win, it was a match in which so much happened.
However, as a former referee, one man was unsurprisingly focused on the officiating.
Dermot Gallagher delivers his thoughts on Everton penalty drama
Combing over Forest’s three penalty shouts from yesterday’s game, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher was surprisingly balanced in his assessment.
Having become somewhat famed for always siding with the decision reached, with many accusing him of simply standing by the officials on the day, with three contentious calls, it would have been hard for him to remain completely aligned with them.
However, when it came to their first claim, as Ashley Young clipped the back of Gio Reyna’s foot, Gallagher did agree with the decision not to award a penalty.
He then used it as an opportunity to detail the positive changes made by VAR in recent weeks, which Everton benefited from.
He told Sky Sports: ‘I think in the last three or four weeks we have seen a slight shift in so much as physical contact. There’s been a higher threshold, which I think is better.
‘Earlier in the season the tolerance level was too low, and penalties were given where people were saying is that enough. As people get used to it and referees throughout the season have gone people are happy with this and not happy with this.
‘I think we are in a better place and that fits in line with what we have seen in the last month.’
VAR has had a tough year in the Premier League
Ever since its introduction into the Premier League back in 2019, VAR has sparked controversy.
After all, whilst there were frustrations over missed calls throughout the years beforehand, there was a quiet acceptance that human error was a necessary evil of this process.
In real-time, and given the speed at which the game is played, it was understandable how a lineman or referee might make a wrong call every now and then.
But with VAR, that was supposed to be eradicated.
After all, with every angle and the ability to slow down play, there was little they could seemingly get wrong. However, the rules have been hopelessly distorted, and now it is not quite certain when it should be involved, and what the rules actually are.
Having become shrouded in their own subjectivity, VAR has arguably caused more controversy than it has solved.
This has been the toughest year for it thus far, and a solution has to be found soon to avoid further build-up of resentment towards it.