Yehor Yarmoliuk Red Card Took Three Minutes to Give, Says Jay Bothroyd

• Brentford’s Yehor Yarmoliuk was sent off for a headbutting action against Liverpool, and it took referee John Brooks more than three minutes and a VAR review to show the red card.
• Dermot Gallagher and Tim Sherwood said on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch that the decision was right and consistent, while Jay Bothroyd said: “I don’t like the fact it took three minutes.”
• Brentford finished with nine men after Vitaly Janelt was shown a second yellow card in second-half stoppage time.

Right Decision, Slow Process: The Verdict on Brentford’s Red Card

Jay Bothroyd could see the red card coming. What bothered him was how long the referee took to show it. “I don’t like seeing this kind of thing but the referee’s are being consistent,” the former striker said on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch on Monday. “I don’t like the fact it took three minutes. I can look at that after five seconds and say it’s going to be a red card.”

The incident came in first-half stoppage time of Liverpool’s win at Brentford. Yehor Yarmoliuk was shown a straight red card for violent conduct after a headbutting action. Referee John Brooks needed more than three minutes, and a VAR review, to produce it.

Consistent With Last Week

Dermot Gallagher, the former Premier League referee, said the decision fits with how officials handled a similar case involving Bentancur the previous week. “If you put your head into someone’s face like that, you’re going to get sent off,” he said.

Tim Sherwood agreed and said the call could not have gone another way. “It took a long time but they got to the right decision,” he said. Sherwood also described what he thought was going through the player’s mind: “He’s looking at the referee and it’s almost like he forgets VAR is there.” In his words, Yarmoliuk did not hurt his opponent, “but VAR looks at it and thinks ‘you’ve got to send him off’.”

Sherwood said the incident was clear and that there “was no way they could have gone the other way.” The delay was the only part of the process that drew complaints.

The Penalty That VAR Took Away

Moments before the red card, Liverpool had a penalty overturned by VAR. The panel was asked whether the video officials were right to wipe out the award for a challenge involving Alexis Mac Allister.

Gallagher said the answer was in the flight of the ball. “The clue is the ball, for me the defender has got to have got to the ball, watch the distance it has travelled and the direction, if MacAllister had got that ball, it is going to go forward,” he said. “But the fact it has gone the other way tells me he has not touched it.” He added that without VAR “we would have had a red card not given and a penalty given incorrectly.”

Bothroyd also backed the overturn, though he was puzzled by the referee’s view. “It is the correct decision,” he said. Brooks was about four yards away, and Bothroyd could not understand why he did not see that the defender had won the ball.

Wirtz, Thiago and Janelt

The panel also dealt with three smaller shouts. Liverpool’s Florian Wirtz felt contact from Yarmoliuk in the first half, but Gallagher said the ball was running away and Wirtz was happy to go down. “It is not a penalty,” he said. Bothroyd agreed that Wirtz knew he was not going to get back to the ball and tried to win a penalty.

Later, Brentford’s Igor Thiago appealed for a penalty as Brentford chased an equaliser, after contact from Jeremy Jacquet. Gallagher saw faults on both sides. “It is contact from both, they are both grabbing each other,” he said. He asked: “Why take sides when one is pushing and one is pulling? Just let it go.” Sherwood summed it up as “six of one, half a dozen of another”.

Brentford’s night ended with Vitaly Janelt shown a second yellow card in second-half stoppage time for contact on Rio Ngumoha. Gallagher said Janelt knew he was on a yellow and grabbed at the shirt. “If you give them a decision to make, don’t be upset if he makes the one you don’t want,” he said, adding that more of those challenges get a yellow card than not. Bothroyd was less sure. He said he was not convinced the challenge was done on purpose, and noted there was a defender covering, so Ngumoha was not through on goal.

What It Means for Brentford

The red card for Yarmoliuk and the second yellow for Janelt left Brentford with nine players at the end of a game in which they were still chasing an equaliser. On the panel’s reading, the Yarmoliuk dismissal was correct and the only criticism was for the speed of it. Janelt’s second yellow was a closer call.

Gallagher’s overall reading was that VAR corrected two errors that would otherwise have stood in the game.