Brighton 0-0 Brentford; Thomas Frank says Brighton’s Joao Pedro should have been sent off

It was fair to say both managers had a different view.

Brentford boss Frank, who had seen his side gain only their second away point of the season, spoke in his news conference first and when asked if it should have been a red card, 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.”

But Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, whose side have now gone six games without a Premier League win, did not see the incident the same way.

When told of Frank’s words, he replied: “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.”

Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg, speaking to Amazon Prime 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.”