When is a contentious penalty not a contentious penalty? When those contrasting England team-mates Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur and Everton’s Jordan Pickford are involved it would seem.
One the one hand you have Three Lions Golden Boy Kane, captain of the national team and darling of the London press while facing him is northern boy Pickford, who despite being head and shoulders above all the pretenders to his throne, continuously has his position as England number one questioned by a public with an unnecessary axe to grind.
Let’s be fair, this was not Pickford’s finest moment but after around 20 months of largely exemplary form, he deserves to be cut some slack. After a largely faultless display for almost an hour, the Blues keeper played himself into trouble by spilling a shot by Matt Doherty and allowing the loose ball to bounce back into the danger area.
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With Kane just yards from goal and the rebound up for grabs, Pickford allowed himself to be in the position where the slightest of touches might enable his opponent to go to ground and the striker needed no such invitation. Kane is one of the Premier League’s elite marksmen of modern times but his other reputation as being a player who goes to ground easily was also upheld here as he appeared to fling himself to the turf before Pickford even made contact.
Referee Paul Tierney immediately pointed to the spot but replays suggested that the incident was at least worth a VAR check from the match official, yet none arrived.
It was a cruel blow for a resolute Everton side and although Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg would later seal the win for the hosts with a second goal, this was still a massive improvement on their previous, shambolic display here.
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