Howard Webb has spoken out on the contentious decision to give Bruno Fernandes his marching orders during Manchester United's clash with Tottenham, suggesting it was 'a slight misread' by the officials.
Fernandes saw red for the first time in his career during Red Devils's 3-0 defeat at the hands of Spurs after a challenge on England international James Maddison.
Fernandes appealed against the decision immediately and subsequently had his three-match ban overturned.
Offering an insight into the decision-making process on Match Officials Mic'd Up, Webb provided some clarity on the incident.
The ex-referee explained: "The red card was correctly overturned on appeal. We hear on the audio the assistant referee coming with the information around this being from his position, a red-card offence and the referee takes his advice and issues the red."
He added: "When you look back on the footage, you see that the contact is high and Bruno Fernandes slips first and puts his foot out to stop Maddison. It's not an attempt for the ball, from the assistant referee's position - he's got a good view, a nice open view, a better viewing angle than what the referee has got. [It] looks like there are studs there going into the shin and if there is it would be a red card but it's just a slight mis-read.
Bruno Fernandes has seen his ban overturned (Image: Getty Images)
"When the VAR checks it, he forms the opinion that the 'referee's call' is not clearly wrong because he sees the action with the high contact, no attempt to play the ball, with some force and therefore decides in his professional judgement that the 'referee's call' is not clearly wrong."
While United felt aggrieved by that decision, over at Anfield, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk managed to steer clear of conceding a penalty for holding Marc Guehi during their nail-biting 1-0 victory against Crystal Palace.
Invalid email
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
VAR opted against intervening to award Crystal Palace a penalty for Virgil van Dijk's holding (Image: Getty)
Yet, Webb is convinced that the initial call was spot on. He explained: "In this case we see an action by Van Dijk that is very quick, particularly at full speed and the ball is always going towards the goalkeeper.
"We don't think that the action really impacts Guehi's ability to get to the ball. The referee saw it that way, didn't penalise [Van Dijk] and when the VAR checked it, they saw it in the same way and cleared it for what it was, a very quick holding that didn't impact Guehi's ability to play the ball.
"If you look at the [incident] at 50 per cent [speed], of course it's going to double the amount of time the holding happens and if you put it at 25 per cent, it makes it four times as long and of course it can look a lot more impactful as well."
