‘It’s completely on Chris Kavanagh’: Everton boss Lampard in remarkable post-Man City rant

Everton boss Frank Lampard was not at all shy in making his feelings regarding the standard of officiating clear, on the back of his side’s defeat to Manchester City this evening.

The subject of officiating, and in particular VAR, has unfortunately taken its place front and centre in the English football headlines once more on Saturday.

This comes on the back of a hugely controversial call late in the Premier League showdown between Everton and Manchester City.

Inside the closing ten minutes at Goodison Park, the ball appeared to strike the arm of Sky Blues midfielder Rodri in the penalty area.

Upon subsequent replays being broadcast, the incident was made to look even more clear-cut, amid the widespread agreement that Rodri had, indeed, inexplicably moved his arm towards the ball whilst in the box.

Everton were denied a penalty after Rodri was deemed to have not deliberately handled the ball ❌ pic.twitter.com/XqpQ2uiRTb

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 26, 2022

Bizarrely, however, on the back of a lengthy VAR check, it was decided that sufficient evidence was not forthcoming to prove that the ball had struck the part of Rodri’s arm which would entitle Everton to a spot-kick.

Penalty calls, in turn, were waved away, ensuring that Phil Foden’s finish at the other end just minutes earlier ultimately proved the match-winner.

On a potential offside in the build up to a VAR no penalty at Everton. The restart was not an offside, the Premier League Match Centre has said the VAR thought the footage was inconclusive, but on further review after the final whistle it ‘looks a penalty’ #EVEMCI

— Chris Williams (@Chris78Williams) February 26, 2022

‘Completely on Chris’

And, as alluded to above, one individual who has since been left understandably perplexed by what he evidently feels was nothing short of robbery on the part of those in charge of proceedings on Saturday evening comes in the form of Frank Lampard.

Speaking to the media post-match, Lampard was drawn on the call which ultimately cost Everton a potential share of the spoils versus Man City.

And the Toffees boss made use of the opportunity to embark on an altogether remarkable rant, going as far as to suggest that Chris Kavanagh, the man in charge of VAR at Goodison, ‘can’t do his job right’:

“The decision is incredible. It’s an incredible decision. It loses us the opportunity to get what we deserved.

“That’s VAR’s call, it’s Chris Kavanagh. It’s completely on Chris. I’ve spoken to the officials on the day and they know it’s a penalty. So my question is whether it was offside in the build-up, it wasn’t.

“So it’s Chris Kavanagh. The referee couldn’t see it on the pitch, he was on the other side. That’s fine and one of the reasons we’ve got VAR, to have those secondary eyes.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 05: Frank Lampard, Manager of Everton applauds fans prior to the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Everton and Brentford at Goodison Park on February 05, 2022 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

“It wouldn’t even need more than five seconds to see that was a penalty. Everybody saw it. He either should have told the referee to give it, or go and look to be clear. I can’t understand why he didn’t.

“We’ve lost a point potentially while we’re fighting for our life by a professional who can’t do his job right. And that’s amazing.

“I’ll wait until the statement or the apology or whatever they do when they give a statement about things that were wrong, but it will mean nothing.”

Here’s Lampard’s stunning attack on VAR in his press conference to the written media in full

I suspect he might get a call to “explain his comments”…but he’s slot on reallyhttps://t.co/SejEywnRjG

— Adam Jones (@Adam_Jones94) February 26, 2022

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