Former Premier League referee labels Robert Sanchez’s tackle as ‘reckless’ as Brighton man surprisingly avoids red for tackle on Luis Diaz | OneFootball

Former Premier League referee Chris Foy has claimed the decision to not show Brighton ‘keeper Robert Sanchez a red card for his ‘reckless’ tackle on Liverpool’s Luis Diaz is a ‘subjective one’.

The 25-year-old Colombian put the Reds 1-0 up on the south coast yesterday with a brave header into the hosts’ net, but the No. 23 was decked by Sanchez’s challenge after being wiped out as the ‘keeper attempted to block his attempt.

“Stuart checked the challenge, a possible red-card incident is one of the four instances as we know where VAR will make checks, and the reasoning for not recommending a review was that the contact by Sanchez was more reckless in nature and not serious foul play,” Foy told the Daily Mail.

“The VAR can only recommend that a referee goes to the referee review area for possible red card offences and can’t advise the referee for a missed yellow card.

If that’s not deemed as serious foul play, then we don’t know what is.

Diaz was extremely lucky to not be knocked unconscious and the fact that he played on was rather surprising.

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VAR Stuart Attwell reviewed the incident and was happy to stick with Mike Dean’s on-field decision.

But the question must be asked, if VAR didn’t exist, would Dean have shown Sanchez a red?

It’s almost as if on-field referees no longer make their own decisions – instead, they wait for VAR to intervene and advise them on what to do next.

The standard of officiating in the English game isn’t the greatest, especially when you compare to the level of refereeing on offer in most of the other top European leagues.

The main thing is is that the decision not to reduce Brighton to 10 men didn’t cost us – Diaz was okay and we earned all three points to continue our hunt for another Premier League title.

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