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Leeds Edge Everton on Late VAR Penalty as Pickford's 'Cheat Sheet' Draws Questions

Lukas Nmecha called the bottle check a bluff on his Leeds debut.

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Overview

  • A VAR review upheld referee Chris Kavanagh's handball call on James Tarkowski in the 82nd minute, yielding the penalty that sealed Leeds' 1-0 win over Everton at Elland Road.
  • Recent signing Lukas Nmecha, on the field for only minutes, took the kick on his debut and converted.
  • Jordan Pickford consulted his water-bottle notes before the kick and dived the correct way but could not reach Nmecha's low strike.
  • Nmecha said the lookup was 'a bit of a bluff' and suggested he was not one of the names on the bottle, echoing fan speculation that his routine was unknown.
  • On talkSPORT, pundit Jamie O'Hara called for a ban on written penalty notes on bottles as unsportsmanlike, while Jason Cundy defended the preparation as standard research.