An independent panel has stated that Manchester City’s first penalty in their 5-1 victory over Wolves should not have been awarded.
The penalty was given when Wolves defender Rayan Ait-Nouri collided with City defender Josko Gvardiol in the area.
In a vote by a five-person Key Match Incident Panel, a majority of 3-2 agreed that referee Craig Pawson should not have awarded the spot-kick.
However, the panel unanimously agreed that the video assistant referee made the correct decision by not intervening.
Erling Haaland successfully converted the penalty and went on to score four goals, including a second spot-kick, during the match at Etihad Stadium.
What did the panel say?
The Key Match Incident Panel, an independent body, comprises three former players or coaches, one representative from the Premier League, and one from the Professional Game Match Officials Board, which oversees referees.
This panel assesses significant refereeing decisions from each round of Premier League fixtures.
Regarding the Ait-Nouri-Gvardiol incident, the majority of the panel concluded that the on-field decision was incorrect. They believed it was a “coming together” resulting from normal player actions, and the challenge was not deemed reckless.
Two panel members dissented, considering it a foul by Ait-Nouri. However, all five agreed that there were “insufficient grounds” for VAR intervention.
Other incidents reviewed included the decision to disallow Antoine Semenyo’s goal for Bournemouth in their 3-0 loss to Arsenal. This decision stemmed from a push by striker Dominic Solanke on goalkeeper David Raya during the build-up.
The panel was split 3-2 in support of referee David Coote’s decision, saying: “The attacker leans into the goalkeeper, briefly hooks round his arm and impacts the goalkeeper.”
The two panellists who disagreed argued “the degree of contact does not impact the goalkeeper’s ability to continue with his action and clear the ball”.
The panel voted 5-0 that VAR was correct not to intervene as it was not a “clear and obvious error”.
The panel was also split 3-2 in support of the decision to award a penalty to Arsenal for a foul by goalkeeper Mark Travers on Kai Havertz earlier in the same game.
Those in support said Travers came out “feet first, doesn’t win the ball and fouls the attacker”, with those disagreeing arguing “Havertz leaves his leg in the challenge to initiate contact and has time to jump to evade the challenge”.
They also voted 5-0 that VAR should have intervened.