Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey thinks that Everton defender Mason Holgate was lucky not to be penalised for handball in their game against Burnley.
With the Toffees already trailing 1-0 at this point thanks to a goal from Chris Wood, the defender went up to challenge a corner with Burnley’s Ben Mee and in the process appeared to deflect the ball away with his arm as he was in the process of jumping.
And speaking exclusively to This Is Futbol, Halsey claimed that given the current interpretation of the handball law, that he didn’t think there would be many complaints if referee on the day Jonathan Moss or VAR official Martin Atkinson had awarded a penalty on that occasion:
“Under the current circumstances and the way they’re interpreting the law, you can go “was Ben Mee fouling him, you know or on top of him?” I’m not so sure, obviously he’s used his arms go up to win the ball, and you can argue that Holgate and Everton got away with one there. In the same way Burney got away with one last week against Arsenal… although two wrongs don’t make a right.
“I think had it been given, I don’t think there could be any complaints.”
Would you be happy to see Mason Holgate given the Everton captaincy one day?
Yes, he has great potential
No, he's not good enough
So Everton might just have got away with one there, and whilst it might not have made a big difference on the day in terms of the result had Burnley been given a penalty and scored from it, given where Everton are in the league table, it could have had an impact on their goal difference.
Which, although it’s quite apart from the other teams around them could end up having a major impact on where the team ends up come the end of the season.