Lampard disputes penalty and handball calls after Coventry lose at Everton

Frank Lampard disputed three refereeing decisions after Coventry City lost 3-1 at Everton on Friday, arguing that a first-half hair pull should have brought his side a penalty. BBC Sport reported that the Coventry manager also challenged an incident involving Taiwo Awoniyi and the decision to allow Thierno Barry's second goal at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

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Everton recovered after Yann Gboho put Coventry ahead following the interval. Barry scored twice and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall added a late goal, taking David Moyes' team into fifth place in the Premier League. Coventry were left 16th after a match in which Lampard believed decisions at both ends of the pitch had affected the outcome.

The first dispute concerned James Tarkowski pulling Caleb Yirenkyi's hair as the pair competed for the ball. Referee Stuart Attwell rejected Coventry's penalty appeals. According to BBC Sport, the interpretation of hair pulling has been relaxed this season, with intent and excessive force considered rather than every incident automatically producing a foul or dismissal. Lampard said he understood why the challenge was not treated as a red-card offence but maintained that it should still have been judged a foul.

Lampard also argued that Vitalii Mykolenko fouled Awoniyi before Coventry scored their opener. He believed the incident warranted a penalty, although BBC Sport reported that replays placed the contact outside the penalty area. That distinction mattered to the scope of any video review: the VAR could not intervene simply to award a free-kick for an incident outside the box.

The third disagreement involved whether Barry handled the ball before his second goal. Lampard said he had seen an angle that convinced him there was a touch by the striker's hand. Video assistant referee Timothy Wood did not judge it a handball offence. BBC Sport reported that the review lacked the conclusive evidence needed to establish that the ball had touched Barry's hand, leaving the goal to stand.

Moyes rejected the claim that Barry handled, while also calling for the hair-pulling rule to be addressed. Lampard acknowledged that he could not demand all three decisions go Coventry's way, but argued that one or two different rulings would have changed the match. The managers' contrasting assessments followed a comeback that delivered Everton three points and left Coventry without a reward for taking the lead.