Hurzeler left frustrated by penalty award

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Head coach reflects on Saturday's 1-0 defeat at the Amex.

Bruce Talbot

2025-01-25T17:45+00:00

Fabian Hurzeler shakes hands with his opposite number David Moyes, who was managing for the 700th time in his career. 📷 Paul Hazlewood.

Fabian Hurzeler felt Everton’s match-winning penalty at the Amex on Saturday should not have been allowed.

Joel Veltman was penalised for handball three minutes before half-time after he was pushed by Abdoulaye Doucoure and Iliman Ndiaye’s penalty sealed Everton’s 1-0 win. Albion stay ninth in the Premier League table.

Head coach Hurzeler said: “For me, no penalty. So the VAR can't get [involved] into this situation. If the referee decides like this then you should play on. It’s not a clear handball.

“Joel felt a touch and when he felt a touch then of course the normal reaction is that the hands are coming. And then the hand went on the ball, so it can't be a penalty.”

Danny Welbeck puts Jordan Pickford under pressure in the second half. 📷 Paul Hazlewood.

The defeat ended a three-game winning run and left Hurzeler ‘disappointed and frustrated about the result.’

He added, “I think it was a game where we tried a lot, but not a lot of things worked out like we expected them to.

“We still had enough time afterwards to turn the game around and we have to be honest to ourselves that we weren't on our highest level today. That is we lost the game and we have to reflect and reanalyse and keep going.

“They defended with 11 players around the box. We were not precise and not clean enough to find a solution for that. We weren't sharp enough in counter-pressing to win the ball back as quick and then it’s difficult to win a game.”

Hurzeler confirmed that Pervis Estupinan and Solly March were absent with muscle injuries.