Frank Lampard was left furious with VAR after Coventry City’s 3-1 defeat to Everton.

The Coventry boss insisted Taiwo Awoniyi, who scored against Sunderland last weekend, should have been awarded a penalty in a game that turned on three major officiating calls.

The Sky Blues took the lead through Yann Gboho early in the second half at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, only for Thierno Barry’s quickfire double and a late Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall strike to complete the turnaround for the Toffees.

Lampard highlighted three decisions that went against his side. The first came in the opening period when James Tarkowski appeared to pull Caleb Yirenkyi’s hair inside the box, but referee Stuart Attwell and VAR waved play on.

“They are saying it’s not enough of a pull, and I think it’s a hard area to be,” Lampard said.

The key flashpoint involving Awoniyi arrived early after the restart.

The Nigerian striker went down under a challenge from Vitalii Mykolenko on the edge of the area.

“Taiwo, for me, on the line of the box is a penalty. You’ve got to give the foul in real time anyway; the ref did let it go, and I felt it was a penalty,” Lampard insisted.

He was equally unhappy with Barry’s second goal, claiming a handball should have ruled it out.

“The Barry one is a handball. I have heard they are saying it didn’t touch his hand, but I have seen an angle where he has flicked it in with the final touch. VAR is there for that.”