An ex-Premier League referee claims the decision not to send Robert Sanchez off for Brighton against Liverpool on Saturday was the correct one.
The controversial moment arrived in the 19th minute of the match at the American Express Community Stadium, when Luis Diaz nodded the ball past the Brighton goalkeeper and into the net, before the Colombian was completely taken out by Sanchez, who had jumped with his leg high.
Despite giving Liverpool the lead - in a match they went on to win 2-0 - instead of celebrating the goal, flattened Diaz received treatment on the floor.
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The incident was referred to VAR consider a possible red card, but after review Sanchez not only escaped a dismissal but did not even receive a yellow card.
However, former top ref Chris Foy, who is now a senior referee coach for the Professional Game Match Officials Board, believes that the VAR team came to the right decision.
Writing for the Daily Mail, he said: "If Sanchez would have gone in for the challenge with studs showing and/or made contact with Diaz's head, the VAR, in this case Stuart Attwell, would have had the evidence to advise showing a red card.
"Stuart checked the challenge, a possible red-card incident is one of the four instances as we know where VAR will make checks, and the reasoning for not recommending a review was that the contact by Sanchez was more reckless in nature and not serious foul play.
"The VAR can only recommend that a referee goes to the referee review area for possible red card offences and can't advise the referee for a missed yellow card.
"Match officials can only judge on a specific incident. They can't speculate as to what would happen if a similar thing happened anywhere else on the pitch. You can only focus on a given incident that occurs."
Despite the heavy blow, Diaz was eventually able to get back to his feet and continue playing in the match, but not before a side-line embrace with manager Jurgen Klopp to belatedly celebrate his goal.
Diaz once again impressed throughout the match with his blistering pace, work rate and awareness, helping the Reds to secure a 2-0 win that keeps up the pressure on title rivals Manchester City.
