Sean Dyche felt Everton should have been awarded a penalty during their goalless draw with Newcastle United on Saturday.
Neither side could break the deadlock at Goodison Park, despite the fact that the visitors were given a spot kick of their own in the first half. Anthony Gordon could not convert as Jordan Pickford dived to his left to save with his knee.
In the second half Dominic Calvert-Lewin was seemingly taken down in the opposition box by Dan Burn, but a VAR review confirmed that the striker had in fact kicked the defender’s leg.
Dyche accepted that Newcastle were correctly awarded a penalty after James Tarkowski threw Sandro Tonali to the ground, but was perplexed Everton were not also given one.
Sean Dyche fumes over Everton penalty decision vs Newcastle
“The first one there is toing and froing but you can’t throw someone to the ground,” he told BBC Match of the Day after the full-time whistle.
“Then the one that wasn’t, if that’s in the middle of the pitch it is a foul. He is going to strike the ball and he player has interrupted the fact he is going to strike the ball. You think he would have a look at it.”
Despite not getting the win, Dyche is seeing improvements in his side and in particular their mentality, which seemed to be lacking during the four-match losing run that started the season.
“I think it is coming back,” he said. “Last season we had a strong jaw against many things that were going against us.
“There have been mistakes this season and we have switched off in key moments. That is reducing now and we are doing the basics better and still trying to find as way of winning games. It is hard to correct everything and we are showing signs that we are.”
