Howard Webb admits Forest should have had at least one penalty against Everton

Howard Webb has admitted Nottingham Forest should have been awarded at least one penalty in their recent highly-charged fixture against Premier League relegation rivals Everton.

Everton claimed a 2-0 win at Goodison Park on April 21 but Forest were incandescent that three separate penalty appeals were ignored by referee Anthony Taylor, with VAR Stuart Attwell not interfering.

Webb, the chief refereeing officer of Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), believes Ashley Young’s challenge on Giovanni Reyna and his potential handball were both open to interpretation.

The next episode of Match Officials Mic’d Up airs this evening, with the match clips selected to be used as follows:

◉ Everton v Nottingham Forest – no penalty awarded for a challenge by Ashley Young on Callum Hudson-Odoi in 55th minute
◉ Brentford v Brighton & Hove Albion –… pic.twitter.com/4GKGjlcJkc

— PGMOL (@FA_PGMOL) April 30, 2024

But speaking during the Match Officials: Mic’d Up programme on Sky Sports, Webb accepts Young’s tackle on Callum Hudson-Odoi should have led to Attwell directing Taylor to review the on-field decision.

“The referee waves away the penalty appeal,” Webb said. “We did hear Anthony Taylor in the footage say that he believed the ball had been played by Ashley Young, and we know that’s not the case.

“We know only Callum Hudson-Odoi touches the ball. The VAR looks at it and asks himself the question, ‘Was the non-award clearly and obviously wrong?’ and came to the conclusion it wasn’t.

“You hear him describing two players tussling for the ball. He doesn’t see a clear action by Young that he considers to be worthy of intervention, one that reaches the threshold of being very clear.

“We would have preferred an intervention for