Darren England controversially awarded Everton a penalty during Arsenal’s game against the Toffees in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
With the clash poised at 1-0 to the Gunners, Myles Lewis-Skelly was adjudged to have fouled Jack Harrison inside the box, with England pointing to the spot shortly after the break.
After an extensive VAR review, the penalty was awarded, and Iliman Ndiaye converted to give David Moyes’ side the equaliser.
The game ended 1-1, prompting frustration from the Arsenal fanbase at the penalty decision, which was just one of a number of bizarre calls from the referee on the day.
Darren England made strange decisions in Everton vs Arsenal
15 minutes into the affair on Merseyside, England seemingly brandished a yellow card for Jake O’Brien after a VAR review.
Initially not booking the Irishman for his reckless tackle on Ben White, the match official only gave the card after the video assistant had checked it for potential violent conduct.
Yellow cards aren’t supposed to be handed out based on VAR reviews, and this set the tone for a strange showing from England.
While the penalty call was questionable, he was ultimately at the mercy of those at Stockley Park.
However, what the referee did in the final seconds of the encounter at Goodison was truly bizarre.
After Leandro Trossard kicked the air, England awarded Everton a free-kick before changing his mind and ending the game by blowing the whistle.
He then changed his mind again, restarting the game after the Everton players pointed out the time on the big screen inside the stadium, starting again with the free-kick.
This lack of assertiveness was concerning, and was an egregious piece of refereeing from an official who had a very bad day.
Changing your mind so flippantly to bow to the demands of the players showed a stark lack of authority.
How football fans reacted to the penalty decision in Everton v Arsenal
While the incident in the final moments of the game was a worse individual piece of officiating from England, the penalty decision had a material impact on the outcome of the game.
The officiating team as a whole had a mare with the decision, and this is reflected with the reaction to it.
Non-Arsenal fans took to social media to express their thoughts on the awarding of the spot-kick, and they overwhelmingly felt it was incorrect.
Content creator Mark Goldbridge wrote on X: “Seriously think Arsenal are in to double figures of dropped points now from incompetent and inconsistent officiating.”
A Crystal Palace fan added: “Gotta feel for MLS. He’s been on the end of some absolutely honking decisions. That’s never a penalty.”
Meanwhile, even an Everton fan chimed in, claiming it wasn’t a spot-kick: “Hmm don’t think that’s a penalty at all to be honest. This referee has been dreadful.”
Mikel Arteta expressed his frustration with the decision after the game.
Thankfully for the Gunners, the incident hasn’t occurred in the midst of a tight Premier League title race.
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