Why VAR did not overturn Aston Villa penalty decision against Everton explained

VAR opted not to overturn Everton’s appeal against the penalty that Aston Villa were awarded in today’s 2-0 loss at Goodison Park.

The Toffees have dropped back into the Premier League relegation zone as Sean Dyche suffered a first home defeat since his appointment as manager.

Everton had plenty of goalscoring chances they failed to take before Villa were gifted a golden opportunity to open the scoring in the 61st minute when Idrissa Gana Gueye was adjudged to have fouled John McGinn inside the box.

Replays show that the Blues midfielder appeared to get a touch to the ball when making a sliding tackle on the Villa captain.

LiverpoolWorld understands that VAR did check the incident - and agreed with on-field referee Anthony Taylor’s decision. It was felt that Gueye went to ground and took the man first before the ball.

Chris Kavanagh was on VAR duty at Stockley Park.

Ollie Watkins subsequently fired home the penalty to give Villa the lead before Emi Buendia doubled the advantage with nine minutes remaining.