'Must be a foul' - Ref Watch panel verdict on why Everton weren't given a penalty vs Tottenham

The Sky Sports News Ref Watch panel disagreed on whether Everton should have had a penalty for the challenge on Beto during the draw with Tottenham Hotspur.

A late Jarrad Branthwaite goal salvaged a point for Sean Dyche's side against Spurs but the Toffees remain in the bottom three following Luton and Nottingham Forest's points against Newcastle and Bournemouth respectively.

Despite the joy of securing a late last-gap point against Ange Postecoglou's side, fans - and boss Sean Dyche - were incensed when they weren't awarded a penalty for the challenge by centre-back Radu Dragusin on Beto in the box. As he tried to get on the end of a Jack Harrison cross, the defender had a coming together with the forward which meant he couldn't get on the end of the powerful cross.

As a result, Dyche was booked and he will now serve a one match touchline ban. The quote of the day came from the Everton manager, as he claimed - "It’s a penalty on Beto, and I get booked" - following the game.

He wasn't the only one to think that the incident should have resulted in a penalty kick; Ref Watch's panel, which includes former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher, former women's professional Sue Smith and they were also joined by former forward Jay Bothroyd. The two ex-players believed that it was a penalty, whilst Gallagher defended the referee who waved away the initial shouts instantly. "When I see it again, he would surely go to head the ball if he wasn't fouled" Smith began. "So I feel like it must be a foul and you can see he's pulling his shirt."

When quizzed on why VAR did not intervene in the incident, Gallagher stated: "If you run that again, you'll see the referee clearly wave it away and then he feeds back that there isn't enough contact. He will speak to the VAR to tell them what he's seen, and then VAR will only intervene if they believe that there has been a clear and obvious error."

Bothroyd then argued back, saying: "I do think it was a penalty; to be fair, it was cute play from the defender because he's nudged him and he was about to take another step to then head it, but he's nudged him and pulled his shirt before it so he wasn't able to go and jump for it."

Dyche will now not be available in the dugout for the trip to face Manchester City away at the Etihad at the weekend, as Everton travel to face the reigning England and European champions.