Anthony Taylor sent off Jhon Duran in Aston Villa's Boxing Day defeat by Newcastle – despite being advised by two of his colleagues on the pitch that the challenge on Fabian Schar was not a red card.
Duran was shown a red card by Taylor after he was deemed to have deliberately stepped on Schar.
The decision left Aston Villa manager Unai Emery fuming after the game, who said: “It's hard to accept three matches for this red card. There was no action with the intention of kicking him.
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Unai Emery was not happy with the red card he showed Jhon Duran after the Aston Villa forward clashed with Newcastle's Fabian Schar.
“We work a lot with him to teach him. He goes the way we decided for him, but the referees have to be fair, making decisions with time.”
Aston Villa were later unsuccessful in their appeal to have the three-match ban overturned.
In the latest edition of Match Officials Mic'd Up, PGMOL boss Howard Webb takes a look at the incident, including match audio of the officials involved.
What the officials said
Judge Taylor: “Tackle…”
4. official: “It looks random from here.”
Assistant Referee Two: “So Duran's stepping on his back. To me, it's a reckless act and nothing more. He's kind of trying to stop and then he lands in the wrong place.”
Judge Taylor: “Ok…”
Assistant Referee Two: “So Duran be careful.”
Judge Taylor: “Wait, he (Schar) is holding on somewhere else here (on his body).
Assistant Referee One: “Hold between the legs.”
Judge Taylor: “I'm going for a red card.”
OUR: “Okay, we have a red card on the pitch.”
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Newcastle's Premier League win against Aston Villa.
Referee Taylor shows the red card and says: “Not even close to the ball.”
OUR: “I'm checking the red card decision on the pitch. OK, so there's clear stud action, grabbing the studs, over the back.”
Referee Taylor, talking to the players: “If it's wrong, I'll change it, ok?”
OUR: “Okay, show me that again? We've got studs driven through the glutes and back.”
Replay operator: “I can show you a wider angle if you want?”
OUR: “Please…”
Referee Taylor, talking to the players: “He's nowhere near the ball and he's got his wedges into it.”
VAR takes ten seconds watching from a wider angle and says: “I'm happy. Tayls, confirm the red card decision on the pitch. Check complete.”
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Ref Watch panel look at Jhon Duran's red card against Newcastle on Boxing Day – a decision Unai Emery strongly disagreed with
Webb's verdict: The referee was in the best position to see the incident
PGMOL Chief Howard Webb:
“On the communication you can hear a range of opinions. The fourth official makes a comment based on what he saw, the assistant referee suggests it could be a yellow card. But by far the best-placed referee in the game is the referee, who is behind the situation.
“He sees Fabian Schar take that clean shot – 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 on the floor. He thought it was a deliberate action by Duran and one of violent behavior.
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Mike Dean gives his opinion on Jhon Duran's red card against Newcastle
“It's always difficult to read a player's mind, you have to judge the actions we see, the physical evidence to make our assessments. And in this situation, the referee saw the action, he felt it was a red card offence.
“And VAR saw the movement of that foot on Schar's back and didn't think the referee's call on the field was clearly wrong – he probably agreed with it – and it stood as the call on the field as a red card.”
Owen then argues – like devil's advocate – that Duran is becoming unbalanced and asks if that would affect thinking?
“You need a level of certainty to send off a player, the referee had that. He has a great eye for it, he would see the dynamic movement when two players pass and fight for the ball.
“Then he sees that what he felt was that his right foot was going from the outside to the inside, that it was going somewhere else, it could have continued to go past the player or to the left or to the right of the player.
“But the referee considered that the right foot landing on the back of the opponent's back was violent behavior and he ruled it out. The check will always be completed when the referee's call received a red card for violent behavior. behavior.”
The Web Discusses Multiple Incidents at Metch Officials Mic'd Up
Howard Webb also looked at five other Premier League incidents in the latest edition of Match Officials Mic'd Up. Press play on the clips below to hear his thoughts…
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PGMOL boss Howard Webb admits the penalty incident involving William Saliba and Joao Pedro was unusual, but agrees the Frenchman committed a foul.
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PGMOL boss Howard Webb says Anthony Gordon's goal against Spurs was rightly awarded after Joelinton's arm made contact in the build-up to The Toon's goal.
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PGMOL boss Howard Webb explains why Matheus Cunha's goal against Manchester United was correctly allowed in his side's 2-0 win.
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PGMOL boss Howard Webb explains why Aaron Ramsdale was denied a foul moments before Trevor Chalobah's goal against Southampton.
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Speaking on Mic'd Up Officials Match, Howard Webb explains why he believes Guido Rodriguez's sending off was rightly overturned against Southampton.