Lampard feels hair pull should have led to Coventry penalty

Lampard disputed three VAR decisions in Coventry's 3-1 loss at Everton, arguing a hair pull on Yirenkyi should have been a penalty.

Coventry suffered defeat at Everton on Friday, with manager Frank Lampard questioning three key refereeing decisions that went against his side.

Thierno Barry's double and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's goal secured a 3-1 win for the hosts after Yann Gboho had given Coventry the lead in the second half. The main flashpoint came in the first half when James Tarkowski pulled Caleb Yirenkyi's hair while challenging for the ball. Referee Stuart Attwell waved away Coventry's penalty appeals, but Lampard felt it should have been awarded. "If the rule remains that it's a foul so I felt it was a foul," Lampard said, noting the relaxed hair-pulling rules this season mean it is not automatically an offence but still requires consideration of excessive force.

Lampard also disputed a challenge on Taiwo Awoniyi by Vitalii Mykolenko before Coventry's goal, and claimed Barry handled the ball before his second strike, though VAR Timothy Wood ruled against both claims. The defeat left Coventry 16th in the Premier League, while Everton moved fifth.