The Premier League's Key Match Incidents panel has recorded three more video assistant referee errors, lifting the total to 23 this season and keeping scrutiny fixed on a system meant to reduce controversy. Everton were among the clubs hit again, with David Moyes' side denied a penalty in a 3-3 draw with Manchester City after leading 3-2 at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
The latest figures show a 35% increase on the 17 errors recorded at the same stage in 2024-25, though the current total remains below the 30 logged in 2023-24. Three of the new errors involved penalties, and two of those should have gone to handball-style holding offences. For Everton, it was the third time this season they should have been awarded a spot kick through video review, after similar incidents in a 1-0 home loss to Arsenal and a 2-1 defeat at West Ham.
Against Manchester City, Bernardo Silva held back Merlin Rohl at a corner without the referee seeing it. Michael Oliver did not give the penalty, and VAR Paul Howard ruled the holding had happened before the corner was taken. The KMI panel disagreed, saying there was a clear, sustained holding offence as the corner was taken and the ball came into play. City equalised deep into stoppage time through Jeremy Doku to draw 3-3, turning what should have been an Everton penalty into another moment of grievance for Moyes.
The panel also voted 5-0 that a penalty awarded to Bournemouth against Crystal Palace should have been overturned. Bournemouth won that match 3-0 at home, but the decision in the 29th minute drew further criticism after Marcos Senesi went down claiming contact from Dean Henderson. Rob Jones pointed to the spot and VAR Peter Bankes upheld it, even though the panel said Henderson dropped the ball, reached for it and Senesi went down under very minimal contact from the goalkeeper. The panel added that the referee's call of a penalty was incorrect and that VAR should have intervened to recommend a review.
The broader picture is stark for Everton. They are the only team not to have had a VAR intervention in their favour this season, while the panel continues to review contentious calls that have shaped results and intensified doubts about consistency. With 23 errors already logged, the debate around epl officiating has moved beyond isolated mistakes and into the reliability of the process itself.
