‘Did not’ - Sean Dyche gives immediate reaction to controversial Everton vs Fulham moment

Sean Dyche queried why VAR was not used to review Everton’s disallowed goal in their opening-day loss to Fulham.

The Toffees opened their 2023-24 Premier League account with a 1-0 reverse against the Cottagers at Goodison Park.

Everton were by far the better team in the first half and couldn’t take an array of chances. They did have the ball in the back of the net in the 35th minute through Michael Keane but Fulham keeper Bernd Leno was adjudged to have been fouled by James Tarkowski when collecting a cross.

Bobby De Cordova Reid bagged the only goal of the game for Fulham in the 73rd minute.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Dyche said: "I think VAR is there to make sure that doesn’t go the wrong way because our defender has done nothing. Tarky just stands there, the keeper catches it and drops it on his head. He did not try to impede him, it bounces out of his hands, we score and bizarrely they get a foul. I don’t know where that one lives. That is the modern game, you touch a keeper and it is a foul. He did not do it deliberately and the whole stadium knows that.

"We created four or five golden chances in the first half and were very good on the break as well. I thought we were the better side overall, but sometimes you don’t get what you deserve.

"The crowd need to stay with us again because we have roughly the same group of players, we have adapted to what we are and that is what we showed today."