The reason why Everton didn't get a penalty for a claim for a handball against Luke Ayling in the second half of their clash with Leeds United on Wednesday has been revealed.
The Blues won the match at Elland Road 2-1 thanks to strikes from Gylfi Sigurdsson and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, with Raphinha giving the hosts hope with a goal just after the break.
However, Carlo Ancelotti's side were denied what many supporters thought should have been a penalty in the second half of the encounter.
With Everton on the attack, a ball was played into the box and appeared to strike the outstretched arm of Leeds defender Ayling after he had initially jumped for a header.
At first it appeared that the incident had not been checked by VAR official Chris Kavanagh.
However, the ECHO understands that a potential handball was in fact checked, but it was deemed that the ball had struck Ayling too high on his arm to be given as a penalty.
The handball rule has caused controversy throughout the course of 2020/21 after a stricter ruling was introduced in the summer, but that has since been relaxed slightly.
But, contentious handball decisions have remained and this is the latest, with many Everton supporters who say multiple replays of the incident believing their side should have been awarded a spot-kick.
