Lampard Criticises Referee Decisions in Everton Match

Coventry City lost 3-1 to Everton in a Premier League match played away on Friday. The home side took the win after Yann Gboho put Coventry ahead early in the second half, followed by two goals from Thierno Barry and a late third from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

In the first half, Coventry appealed for a penalty when James Tarkowski pulled Caleb Yirenkyi's hair while challenging for the ball. Referee Stuart Attwell rejected the appeals. Lampard argued that the incident should have been a penalty. He pointed out that hair-pulling rules had changed this season and that referees now consider both intent and force when judging an offence.

Lampard also said he believed Vitalii Mykolenko fouled Taiwo Awoniyi at the edge of the penalty area. He further claimed that Barry handled the ball before scoring his second goal. VAR official Timothy Wood decided there was no handball offence. Lampard said VAR is there for situations like this.

Everton manager David Moyes rejected the handball claim, saying the ball had not hit the player's hand. However, he also criticised the hair-pulling rule. Moyes said the rule had changed and that an offence should lead to a yellow card, but he still considered it ridiculous that such a rule existed in the game.

By the end of the match, Everton had moved up to fifth place, while Coventry remained in 16th.