The Brighton striker incredibly avoided a red card
Both managers involved in Brighton’s 0-0 draw with Brentford last night have spoken out following an extremely controversial moment that many believe should have seen Brighton striker Joao Pedro sent off.
With the game poised at 0-0 in the 76th minute, the 23-year-old Brazilian was seen to throw his elbow violently towards Brentford midfielder Yehor Yarmolyuk, after he pulled Pedro back.
Fortunately for the Ukrainian the elbow did not make contact, but Brentford felt extremely aggrieved that Pedro was not punished for his actions.
VAR looked at the incident and, as per the Premier League Match Centre ‘X’ account, deemed that the referee’s on pitch decision was not clearly wrong.
#BHABRE 75’
— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) December 27, 2024
The referee’s call of no red card to João Pedro for violent conduct was checked and confirmed by VAR, who deemed the referee’s call was not clearly and obviously wrong.
Since the incident, both managers have spoken out about Pedro’s elbow, unsurprisingly harbouring differing opinions.
Brentford manager Thomas Frank said: “Yes. As I understand the rules, you can’t swing an arm to hit someone, whether you hit them or not.
“That’s why we have got VAR. It happened, we have to make it [VAR] better in the future.”
Meanwhile Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler said: “It’s an interesting opinion, I see it completely different. For me it’s not a red card, why would it be a red card? You just try to get free from someone.”
Speaking on Amazon Prime, former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg said: “If we look at the laws of the game as it’s written, it has to be ‘to strike an opponent or attempt to strike an opponent’.
“Because there was no contact he can’t be sent off the field of play for the contact. Therefore, it’s whether he attempted to strike the opponent.
“The more I look at it, because it’s an unusual action, especially from behind he is looking towards Andy Madley when he swings his arm. He keeps his arm quite close to his body and I think it’s more of a gesture to the referee.
“Andy Madley is in a very good position. Joao Pedro couldn’t have been sent off for the contact but he could have been sent off for the attempted contact. I believe it’s a gesture more than an attempted strike.
“I think Joao Pedro makes a gesture to the referee but if he wanted to swing and use brutality he would have swung his arm out and created contact.”
