Premier League panel confirms 23rd VAR error of the season

The Premier League’s Key Match Incidents panel has formally confirmed three further video assistant referee errors, increasing the season total to 23. The latest rulings address specific officiating failures involving Everton, Bournemouth, and West Ham United, underscoring ongoing concerns regarding the consistency and application of the video review system.

In a unanimous 5-0 decision, the panel determined that Everton were wrongly denied a penalty against Manchester City. The incident occurred during a corner kick when Bernardo Silva held Everton midfielder Merlin Rohl. Referee Michael Oliver and VAR Paul Howard failed to award the spot-kick, with Howard ruling the contact occurred prior to the corner being taken. The panel concluded there was a clear, sustained holding offence that continued as the ball came into play. David Moyes, Everton’s manager, had previously criticised the decision, stating that such incidents should result in penalties. Manchester City later equalised in stoppage time through Jeremy Doku to secure a 3-3 draw.

The panel also voted 5-0 that a penalty awarded to Bournemouth against Crystal Palace was incorrect. Referee Rob Jones had pointed to the spot following contact between Bournemouth’s Marcos Senesi and goalkeeper Dean Henderson. However, the panel deemed the contact minimal and ruled that VAR Peter Bankes should have intervened to overturn the decision. This marks the third time this season Everton has been denied a penalty through video review, with previous incidents occurring in losses to Arsenal and West Ham.

Regarding West Ham United’s 3-0 defeat to Brentford, the panel identified two potential penalties. In one instance, Keane Lewis-Potter was found to have held Tomas Soucek in a non-footballing action, with the panel unanimously agreeing VAR Tony Harrington should have reviewed the incident. A second incident involving Yehor Yarmolyuk and Pablo received a split vote, with 3-2 support for a penalty but 4-1 against a VAR review.

The current total of 23 errors represents an increase compared to the same stage of the previous campaign, where 17 errors were recorded. However, the figure remains lower than the 30 mistakes logged after 35 rounds of the 2023-24 season. In other judgements, the panel voted 4-1 that VAR was correct not to intervene on a potential handball by Benjamin Sesko before he scored against Liverpool, citing a lack of conclusive evidence. Additionally, the panel supported the red card issued to Sunderland’s Dan Ballard for pulling on Tolu Arokodare’s hair.