Referee Mike Riley personally apologized to Frank Lampard for the mistakes made in the defeat of Everton by Manchester City.
Lampard accused VAR employee Chris Cavanaugh of being a “professional who can’t do his job properly” after losing 1-0 to Goodison Champions League champions last Saturday.
Cavanagh failed to advise referee Paul Tierney on a handball game by Rodri that would give Everton a late chance to equalize a penalty.
Everton CEO Denise Barrett-Baxandale sent a letter to the Premier League on Monday with the club’s concerns and apologized.
Of course, Riley, managing director of Professional Game Match Officials Limited, later called Everton manager and club chairman Bill Kenwright to apologize for the mistakes made in the incident.
After the match, Lampard said: “The decision is incredible and it loses our opportunity to get what we deserve. This is a VAR call. This is Chris Cavanagh. It wouldn’t take more than five seconds for him to realize it was a penalty. [Kavanagh] she had to either tell the referee to give it to him or tell him to go look at it. We lost a point because of a professional who can’t do his job properly. “