The Premier League has issued an explanation after Everton were left furious with the decision not to award a penalty for William Saliba's challenge on Thierno Barry. The incident came after 58 minutes of Arsenal's 1-0 win in the Premier League on Saturday night as Saliba and Barry went for a bouncing ball on the edge of the box. The Premier League Match Centre wrote: "The referee’s call of no penalty to Everton was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed the contact from Saliba on Barry wasn’t sufficient for a penalty." To make matters worse, Arsenal led 1-0 at that point following a VAR decision which went in their favour. The Premier League Match Centre wrote: "After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of no penalty to Arsenal.

Source: Daily Mirror December 20, 2025 21:45 UTC