Joao Pedro avoided a red card and suspension after trying to elbow Yehor Yarmolyuk. Brightonwith a goalless draw Brentford Friday night.
The incident happened in the second half when the Brighton forward tried to outrun Yarmolyuk, who was pulling on his shoulder and his shirt.
A frustrated Pedro then stopped and swung his right elbow at Yarmoliu but narrowly missed the Brentford midfielder.
Play was stopped by referee Andy Madley, who yellow carded Yarmolyuk.
But VAR referee Chris Kavanagh reviewed the incident and felt that Madley had not made a clear and obvious error by deciding not to penalize Pedro.
‘I saw it, I think it’s a red card,’ said the Brentford manager Thomas Frank He said after the game.
‘You can’t swing your arm like that, it’s like if you want to punch someone or swing your arm like that, hit or not, it’s a red card if I understand the law.
‘I understand it’s never easy to get things right, so we just have to have a good conversation about it.’
A statement from Premier League Match Center explains why the Brighton forward was not shown a red card.
“The referee’s no red card call to Joao Pedro for violent conduct has been scrutinized and upheld by VAR, who found the referee’s call to be clear and not clearly wrong,” the statement read.
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