A statement has been released by the Premier League - referencing the red card picked up by Arsenal star William Saliba against Bournemouth last month - to underline why there appeared to be some inconsistencies with recent decisions made in other high-profile top-flight matches.
Saliba was given his marching orders 30 minutes into a surprise defeat for the Gunners last month. The Frenchman brought down Evanlison - following an under-hit pass from Leoandro Trossard - and that moment proved costly as his teammate was forced into a tackle and, ultimately, sent-off.
It was a flashpoint which raised eyebrows at the time, and in the lengthy aftermath, due to a similar incident in the Liverpool vs Chelsea showdown at Anfield in which Tosin Adarabioyo fouled Diogo Jota in comparable fashion and was only shown a yellow card.
VAR got involved on both occasions. However, it only properly impacted Saliba.
Both incidents and their respective punishments came under the DOGSO criteria; the denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. Offences committed under this consider four things before making any decision - namely the distance between the offence and the goal, general direction of the play, the likelihood of keeping or gaining a control of the ball, and the location and number of defenders.
Despite heavy-handed question marks from an Arsenal perspective, the dust had begun to settle. However, with a ball yet to be kicked upon the resumption from November's international break, the Premier League have opted to add more fuel to the fire with their online statement.
Released this afternoon via their Match Centre, the top-flight media team have provided an in-depth update on a few contentious calls made between Game-Week 8 and Game-Week 11. Referencing Saliba's red card, a statement read: "The VAR determined that the ball was moving towards goal and into Evanilson's path. meaning that he was highly likely to gain control of it, while [Ben] White was too far away to be considered a covering defender and the goalkeeper [David Raya] was back-pedalling.
"Therefore, the VAR deemed that there was clear evidence of a missed red card for DOGSO, and recommended an on-field review. The VAR used both full-speed and slow-motion to arrive at this recommendation, which resulted in the referee overturning the original decision and upgrading yellow to a red card."
It added: "This incident was compared to a challenge made by Tosin Adarabioyo on Diogo Jota during Liverpool's match with Chelsea at Anfield during the same match round. The referee issued a yellow card to Tosin and the VAR checked and confirmed the referee's call.
"In this situation, the VAR deemed that this was a possible goal-scoring opportunity - rather than an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, with Chelsea defender Levi Colwill very close to the challenge and the ball clearly also clearly away from the goal."
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