Anthony Taylor sent off Jhon Duran in Aston Villa's Boxing Day defeat at Newcastle, despite two of his colleagues telling him on the pitch that the challenge on Fabian Schar was not a red card.
Duran was shown a straight red card by Taylor after it was deemed that he had deliberately stepped on Schar.
The decision left Aston Villa manager Unai Emery furious after the match, saying: “Three games before this red card is difficult to accept. There was no action with the intention of kicking him.”
“We work a lot with him to teach him. He goes the way we determine for him, but the referees have to be fair and make decisions on time.”
Aston Villa were later unsuccessful in an appeal to overturn a three-match suspension.
In the latest edition of Match Officials Mic'd Up, PGMOL chief Howard Webb reviewed the incident, including match audio from the officials involved.
What the officials said
Referee Taylor: “Tackle…”
4th official: “From here it looks coincidental.”
Assistant referee two: “So Duran steps behind. To me it's more of a reckless act than anything else. He tries to stop and then ends up in the wrong place.”
Referee Taylor: “Okay…”
Assistant referee two: “So, Duran pay attention.”
Referee Taylor: “Wait a minute, him [Schar] is stuck here somewhere else [on his body].
Assistant referee one: “He's holding his legs.”
Referee Taylor: “I get a red card.”
VAR: “Okay, we have a red card on the field.”
Referee Taylor presents the red card and says, “Nowhere near the ball.”
VAR: “I check the decision on the pitch about a red card. OK, so there is a clear action of the studs, raking of studs, over the back.”
Referee Taylor, talking to the players: “If it's wrong, I'll change it, okay?”
VAR: “Okay, let me see that again? We have studs going through the glutes and the back.”
Replay operator: “I can show you a wider angle if you want?”
VAR: “Please…”
Referee Taylor, talking to players: “He's nowhere near the ball and he's got his studs in him.”
The VAR takes ten seconds to look at the wider corner and says: “I'm happy. Tayls confirms the on-field decision on a red card. Check completed.”
Webb's verdict: The referee was best placed to see the incident
PGMOL chief Howard Webb:
“You can hear different opinions on the communication. The fourth official makes a comment based on what he has seen, the assistant referee suggests that it might be a yellow card. But the best placed match official by far is the referee, who stands behind the situation.
“He sees Fabian Schar make that neat tackle – and then Duran takes a few steps and then moves his right leg from right to left and onto the back of Schar, who is lying on the ground. He considered that a deliberate action by Duran and one of violent behavior.
“It's always difficult to read the minds of players. You have to assess the actions we see, the physical evidence to make a judgement. And in this situation the referee saw the action and felt it was a red card .
“And the VAR saw the movement of that leg on Schar's back and didn't feel that the referee's decision on the field was clearly wrong – he probably agreed with it – and it remained an on-field decision like a red card.” .”
Owen then argues – as devil's advocate – that Duran is becoming unbalanced and wonders if that would affect thinking?
“You need a certain amount of certainty to send a player off the field, the referee had that. He has a good view of that, he would have seen a dynamic move if the two players continued and challenged for the ball .”
“Then he sees that what he felt was the right leg coming in from the outside, going somewhere else, it could have continued to go past the player, or to the player's left or right.
“But the referee felt that the action of the right leg landing on the back of the opponent was violent conduct and he sent him off the field. It would always be a complete check once the referee's decision was given as a red card for violent behavior.” behavior.”
Webb discusses more incidents on Match Officials Mic'd Up
Howard Webb also looked at five other Premier League incidents on the latest edition of Match Officials Mic'd Up. Play the videos below to hear his thoughts…
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