Everton boss David Moyes said his side’s display did not warrant a point, but he did not believe Leeds United should have been awarded a decisive penalty in the final match of the Premier League‘s opening weekend — one the Toffees boss labelled as “poor” across the board by referees.
Everton skipper James Tarkowski appeared to lean into Leeds debutant Anton Stach’s deflected shot and although his arms were by his side, the ball struck his upper arm and referee Chris Kavanagh’s decision was upheld by VAR.
Substitute Lukas Nmecha beat Jordan Pickford from the spot to hand Leeds a 1-0 win at Elland Road in their first match back in the Premier League following promotion from the Championship last season.
Moyes said: “I’m obviously going to say it’s not a penalty and I believe it’s not a penalty.
“I’ve been to see the referee. The referee sort of [had] nothing to do with it, he thought it was to do with VAR, the decision they’ve made. “
Moyes, who was visibly upset with the referee after the game, added: “I actually think the referees have had a poor weekend in the opening weekend.
“I think there have been a lot of [poor] decisions and tonight’s is another one.”
When asked about his side’s display, Moyes added: “We improved a bit in the second half, but I wasn’t impressed by how we played at all.
“I’ve got to give great credit to Leeds. I thought they were incredibly intense, certainly for the first 30 minutes.”
Leeds manager Daniel Farke said he almost took the ball off Nmecha, but was glad he didn’t after the summer signing held his nerve to bury an 84th-minute spot kick – just six minutes after stepping off the bench to replace Joël Piroe – to clinch the win for the hosts.
Farke said: “I was a bit worried. He’s on the sheet for taking penalties, but as a substitute, he needed more touches and I was thinking of stepping in there and taking the ball off him.
“Thank God I calmed myself down and he prove me right with an ice-cold finish. He deserves today to be in the spotlight after not the easiest of periods in these last few years.”
Nmecha struggled with injuries in his last two seasons in the Bundesliga and has gone under the radar since becoming the first of Leeds’ eight summer signings so far.
“He’s been excellent,” Farke said. “He’s won caps for Germany, but his last couple of seasons were pretty much interrupted with injury.
“It’s always a bit risky to bring such a player in, but this was the reason he was a free transfer, more or less a bargain.
“Just with this important goal, that is worth three points, he’s paid everything back — but we didn’t pay for him!
“He’s a great guy, a hard worker, pretty physical attributes for the Premier League.”
Everton will play the first-ever Premier League match in their new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium against Brighton on Aug. 24, while Leeds travel to play Arsenal the day before.
