'I must be from a different planet' - Sean Dyche blasts 'bizarre' decision to give Man City penalty after Everton throw away lead against Pep Guardiola's side

Former Cityzen Jack Harrison scored the opener for the Toffees just before the half-hour mark but Phil Foden equalised soon after play resumed in the second half. However, the turning point occurred when Nathan Ake's attempt was deemed to have struck Amadou Onana's hand in the penalty area, prompting referee John Brooks to award a penalty. Julian Alvarez capitalised on the penalty, and Bernardo Silva added a third goal, to fire City to a convincing 3-1 win at Goodison Park on Wednesday evening.

Dyche, visibly frustrated, contested the decision and said to Amazon Prime Video Sport, "We can debate the penalty all day. It has been by managers on Zoom calls to say it's a farce but that's the way it goes. That's completely natural. He's not putting his arm up to save it, he's literally jumping in to try to block the ball. How that is given as a penalty is bizarre in my world but I must be from a different planet.

"Tonight the linesman gives that and he's 18 yards away so I don't know who is giving what any more. Who knows? All the managers are debating it. Someone needs to stand up at some point and realise that can't be a penalty because he's just throwing himself in front of it to try to block the ball, that's it."

Former referee Mark Clattenburg weighed in on the controversy and agreed that the penalty decision was harsh on Everton and he wouldn't have blown the whistle for that one.

"It changed the game, it was a big decision," he said. "When you block a shot on goal with an outstretched arm even though he's trying to block the ball because its a shot on goal this is where referees will always look to penalise as a penalty.

"Do I agree with it? I don't but we've been discussing hand ball for many many years and we're still no further forward of actually improving in, one week its given one week its not, is it deliberate? is it not? "

The Onana incident once again highlights the ongoing challenge of interpreting and applying handball rules consistently in football. It now remains to be seen if the lawmakers or PGMOL works on it to find a solution to the ever-growing list of contentious decisions ahead of the 2024-25 Premier League season.