Premier League press release after Brighton star avoids red card for attempting to elbow opponent's face
The Premier League has clarified why Brighton's Joao Pedro avoided a red card despite attempting to elbow an opponent during the 0-0 draw against Brentford..
Pedro tried to get away from Brentford's Yehor Yarmolyuk, but the Bees midfielder had other ideas and lured his rival by grabbing onto his shirt.
Evidently frustrated at not being able to escape Yarmolyuk, Pedro threw an elbow in his rival's direction, but missed completely.
Referee Andy Madley stopped the game to give a yellow card to Yarmolyuk, who had entered the game just three minutes before the foul.
But Chris Kavanagh, who was in charge of VAR for the match, quickly told him to delay the game.
The replays confirmed that Pedro had indeed launched a violent elbow in the direction of Yarmolyuk.
However, Pedro was spared any penalty as the VAR deemed it not a red card offence.
The Premier League Match Center on X soon clarified why Pedro was not sent off.
“The referee's decision not to give a red card to Joao Pedro for violent conduct was reviewed and confirmed by the VAR, which considered that the referee's signal was not clear and evidently erroneous,” the publication reads.
In the Amazon Prime broadcast of the match, former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg explained that the incident could not be considered violent conduct as Pedro's elbow never made contact with Yarmolyuk.
If Pedro had received a red card, it would have been his first since joining the Seagulls in May 2023.
Pedro avoiding a red card was not the only refereeing decision Brighton benefited from.
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In the first half, Brentford's Yoane Wissa put the ball in the back of the net after Mads Roerslev had scored from the right wing.
The linesman's flag remained lowered to mark the goal, but VAR unfortunately ruined the celebrations as control confirmed that Wissa had timed his run too early.
Brentford's game plan was briefly thrown into disarray when first-choice goalkeeper Mark Flekken was forced off with an injury in the 36th minute.
It meant Icelandic goalkeeper Hakon Valdimarsson would make his Premier League debut.
Luckily for the Bees, Valdimarsson oozed composure as he helped the visitors to their first clean sheet since November 23.
For Brighton, the 0-0 result extended their winless streak to a sixth straight match, with four of those matches ending in a draw.
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The result leaves the Seagulls in 10th place with 26 points, while Brentford sit one place below with 24 points.
More to follow…
