Lampard left fuming by VAR as Everton beat his Coventry side 3-1
Everton ran out 3-1 winners over Coventry City at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, but the post-match talk was dominated by former Blues boss Frank Lampard's frustration at a string of VAR calls that went in Everton's favour.
Sky Sports reports that three separate VAR reviews went against Coventry, including James Tarkowski's hair pull on Caleb Yirenkyi and Vitalii Mykolenko's clip on Taiwo Awoniyi, with neither penalised as a penalty (Sky Sports). BBC Sport quotes Lampard saying "big decisions" affected the game, as the Coventry head coach made clear his frustration at how things played out at Goodison's successor ground (BBC Sport).
The Liverpool Echo picks up on the fact that it was current Everton manager David Moyes who found himself disagreeing with his old club's former boss, with Moyes offering a different view after watching his side see off Coventry 3-1 (Liverpool Echo).
There's also a wider reflection piece doing the rounds. ToffeeWeb argues that while Everton were right to part ways with Lampard during his time in charge at the club, he has since gone on to show he "has something" as a manager, with his work since leaving Merseyside suggesting there was substance to his coaching after all (ToffeeWeb).
For Everton supporters, the headline news remains the three points from a game played at home, with the Tarkowski and Mykolenko incidents the flashpoints that have fuelled Lampard's post-match complaints as reported by Sky Sports and BBC Sport alike (Sky Sports) (BBC Sport). Moyes' pushback, as relayed by the Liverpool Echo, will be welcomed by fans keen to see their manager defend the team rather than get drawn into relitigating contentious calls (Liverpool Echo).
With a result safely banked, attention for Evertonians will soon turn elsewhere, though the Lampard subplot - both his frustration at Hill Dickinson and the broader question of his managerial credentials raised by ToffeeWeb - adds an extra layer of interest to what was a routine home win on the pitch (ToffeeWeb) (Sky Sports) (BBC Sport) (Liverpool Echo).
Written with the help of AI, using the headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.
