Joao Pedro avoided a red card for his attempted elbow (Action Images via Reuters)
Joao Pedro avoided a red card and a suspension after attempting to elbow Yehor Yarmolyuk during Brighton’s goalless draw with Brentford on Friday night.
The incident occurred in the second half when the Brighton forward attempted to race clear of Yarmolyuk, who was pulling at his shoulder and his shirt.
A frustrated Pedro then stopped and swung his right elbow at Yarmolyuk but it narrowly missed the Brentford midfielder.
Play was halted by referee Andy Madley, who gave Yarmolyuk a yellow card.
But VAR referee Chris Kavanagh reviewed the incident and deemed that Madley had not made a clear and obvious error with his decision to not punish Pedro.
VAR did not overturn referee Andy Madley’s decision to not punish Joao Pedro (Amazon Prime)
‘I’ve seen it, I think a red card,’ Brentford manager Thomas Frank 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 no hit, if I understand the laws it’s a red card.
‘I understand it’s never easy to get everything right, so we just have to have a good conversation about it.’
A statement from the Premier League Match Centre explained why the Brighton forward was not shown a red card.
‘The referee’s call of no red card to Joao Pedro for violent conduct was checked and confirmed by VAR, who deemed the referee’s call was not clear and obviously wrong,’ the statement read.
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