Dalot 'would have been given red card in Europe'

"The Portugal international had closed down Jeremy Doku by the touchline. He stretched out a leg to try to intercept the ball but made contact with his studs on the knee of the Manchester City winger. Referee Anthony Taylor booked Dalot. The video assistant referee (VAR), Craig Pawson, backed up the on-field decision saying the contact was "glancing and not with excessive force"."

"Ex-England striker Alan Shearer told BBC Sport: "I think VAR got that terribly wrong. For me that was a clear red card. "Forget about whether the contact was 'glancing' or not. I can understand why the referee hasn't given it, it might have been difficult for him to see it, but when the VAR has two professionals looking at that it should have been a very easy decision to give a red card.""

"Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) appears to be comfortable with the yellow card. It believes that too much stock has been placed on the slow motion replay. The VAR is damned if they do use slow motion replays, and damned if they do not. PGMO would argue that if you watch the incident at normal speed it does not look like there is excessive force."

Pep Guardiola refused to pin Manchester City's 2-0 defeat at Manchester United on Diogo Dalot's avoided red card, though he likely considered the impact of a 10th-minute sending-off. Dalot lunged to intercept Jeremy Doku and made studs contact with Doku's knee; Anthony Taylor issued a yellow and VAR Craig Pawson upheld that call as "glancing and not with excessive force". Several former players, notably Alan Shearer, deemed the incident a clear red card. Professional Game Match Officials defended the yellow, cautioning against overreliance on slow-motion replays and noting different standards between the Premier League and European competitions.

Read at www.bbc.com