‘It was so blatant’ – Ashley Young left in disbelief over what happened before ‘massive’ Everton penalty

Ashley Young admits he couldn’t believe he wasn’t awarded the penalty that snatched a point for Everton at Newcastle United straight away.

The Blues veteran was wrestled to the ground by Magpies substitute Paul Dummett but referee Tony Harrington failed to spot the incident in real time and only gave the spot-kick after he was invited to view the pitchside monitor at St James’ Park by VAR official Michael Salisbury back at Stockley Park. Young said: “It was a tough gig out there. It was so blatant, I just couldn’t work out that he hadn’t given it straight away.”

Both Everton’s penalties this season have come following VAR checks. Asked whether they might get one from an actual on-the-field referee, Young laughed and replied: “We’ll have to wait and see.”

The 38-year-old was full of praise for scorer Calvert-Lewin though who held his nerve to earn the Blues a share of the spoils. Young said: “Everyone knows what Dom can give us, what he offers. He’s been unlucky not to get the goals that I feel he deserves and we’re delighted for him to get on the scoresheet.

“It was a massive time for us to score and just shows what kind of character he is; the resilience he’s got to step up and take the penalty. It’s not easy so we’re delighted for him.

“For him to step up at that time when we’re 1-0 down, it’s a massive penalty to be honest.

“It just shows the character that he is to step up and take the penalty. For him to step up at that time when we’re 1-0 down, it’s a massive penalty to be honest.

“It just shows the character that he is to step up and take the penalty. He put his foot through it and at the end of the day, the keeper gets his hand to it but it’s not enough and luckily for us, it goes in.

“We could have kicked on and got the second goal. But we’re happy with the point and we go again at the weekend.”

Although the result ensures Everton have now gone a record 13 Premier League without a win, Young believes the positive nature of their fight back against a difficult opponent, should be seen as a significant plus point. He said: “Of course it’s a good point, this is a tough place to come. I thought we could have even gone on to snatch it at the end but it’s a decent point.

“Everyone has got to make an impact. It’s a squad game and we’ve said that from the start of the season.

“Whether players are starting or coming on, they’ve got to put their all in to the game. Newcastle had a tough game at the weekend, I think they ran out of legs and we kicked on.

“We got the goal – great for Dom to get on the scoresheet – and we’ll take the point.”

Young added: “I think we’ve been building from the start of the season. It’s not just now, we’ve got eight games left.

“There’s been murmurs of the winless run but that doesn’t affect us. We know what we’ve got inside the dressing room and at the training ground, we know what we give in every game we can play.

“We go out on the pitch to win games. We’ve now got eight games left and it’s up to us to get the points that we need.”