Former Premier League referee, Dermot Gallagher has defended match official, Rob Jones’ decision to show leniency to Kai Havertz in Arsenal’s match against Brentford on Saturday
Gallagher stated that VAR will not intervene in a second yellow card scenario and believed that Havertz’s contact with Nathan Collins saved him from harsher punishment.
Brentford manager, Thomas Frank believed Havertz should have been given his marching orders earlier in the second half after the Germany international threw himself to the ground in search of a penalty.
However, Gallagher concluded that sending Havertz off for the dive would require a scenario of no contact.
“If you imagine the referee decides to give a yellow card and VAR doesn’t think it is, we are talking about can the VAR intervene on second yellow cards. Well we all know it is about direct red cards,” Gallagher told Premier League Productions.
“For me, there is some contact and that is what saves him really. It is not the best thing to do in the world, especially when you are on a yellow card.
“If you look where the referee is, he sees the tackle go in from Collins and sees the ball go to the right.
“If you are going to send somebody off for a dive, you want where there is clearly no contact where he is thrown himself to the ground.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal won the match 2-1 against Brentford.
Ex-EPL referee explains why Kai Havertz wasn’t sent off during Arsenal’s win over Brentford
