Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna was furious after VAR denied his team a penalty at a vital point in today’s 2-0 home loss to Everton. With the Blues behind 1-0 after Iliman Ndiaye’s 17th-minute strike, referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot after Jack Clarke was stopped from taking the shot after some beautiful footwork in a crowded box. Oliver was then asked to go study the incident on a touchline monitor and overrule his original decision because ‘VAR concluded that Clarke kicked the back of (Dwight) McNeil’s leg and that no foul was committed’.
“I find it inexplicable really how it can be overruled,” she added. “At the moment, it seemed like a penalty. Of course, I’m speaking from an Ipswich perspective, but Jack has dribbled past a couple of defenders, is ready to shoot, there’s a good chance it’s a goal, and Dwight McNeil jumps across the ball’s line just as he’s about to swing his back. “Of course, you might argue that Jack’s foot struck Dwight McNeil, but Dwight McNeil lunged across the ball’s line in the penalty area, which I don’t believe a defender can do. He hasn’t touched the ball, hasn’t even attempted to play it, and has stopped Jack from attempting a shot.
“So I believe it is a punishment. I understand how you could discuss it, but what I don’t get is that, based on all of the directives we’ve received and everything I’ve seen so far, unless there is a clear and evident error, it will not be reviewed and the referee’s judgment on the field will remain. That’s for good reason: the referee has the finest vision and can feel the action at full speed.
“So I believe it was a foolish decision to identify that as a clear and evident wrong. I spoke with Michael downstairs, and we had a respectful conversation. To be honest, he viewed it the same way I saw it. We both agreed that Dwight McNeil stepped across the ball’s line as Jack Clarke prepared to shoot. However, he stated that when information is fed into your ear, it is difficult to resist it. I don’t think the VAR should have put him in that position.
“Everyone who knows me knows I don’t talk about referees, and I don’t want to spend the majority of the season talking about VAR, but I am aware that if I don’t, it might work against us if other clubs talk a lot. I believe we had a fairly poor one against us today.” Following some more poor defending, Michael Keane scored Everton’s second goal just before halftime. Ipswich didn’t have their first attempt on target until the 80th minute. “It ends up being a bad day for us,” added McKenna, whose side might fall into the relegation zone tomorrow depending on how Wolves and Crystal Palace perform.
“I believe the margins in the first half were very close between us delivering a strong performance and being in a good position at halftime. However, there were lost opportunities (Clarke firing over from a wonderful position early on), terrible goals scored from our perspective, and, of course, the penalty decision, which I find extremely difficult to understand.
“The margins didn’t go our way, we go in at half-time 2-0 down and in the second half we weren’t able to produce a response that was good enough against a strong and experienced Premier League side.” McKenna commented on Everton’s two goals, saying, “Of course they were preventable.” These were bad goals to concede. The first is a mistake, and the second is a horrible goal to concede during a set play. We defended the first ball effectively, but we didn’t protect the second one quite as well. We know Everton is strong in those situations, and we can’t afford to concede goals like that if we want to have a chance of earning the desired outcome.”
He continued, “They did nothing to surprise us. Their strengths are rather evident. In the second half, I believed they maintained their 2-0 lead well, controlled the game with the ball, and demonstrated their expertise. “At 2-0, you know if you score the next goal, you have a chance, especially at home, given our history in those situations. We had numerous opportunities in the final 15 minutes, and if one of them goes in, we’ll be in for a dramatic finale. But I believe we didn’t do enough to put pressure on the opposition and get the audience involved to truly merit the comeback.”
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