Keith Hackett, the former head of England's Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) and a former international referee, has confirmed that Manchester City should have been awarded a penalty during their 1-0 defeat to Brighton in the Premier League.
Several City players appealed for penalties in the first half of Saturday's clash at the Etihad Stadium, but referee Craig Pawson waved every one away. VAR official John Brooks backed him on each call.
One moment stood out, arriving a few minutes before the break. Diego Gomez headed the ball towards the outstretched arm of Brighton defender Luka Vuskovic, and it struck his hand inside the penalty area.
City's players surrounded Pawson in protest. He gave nothing, and VAR never sent him to the monitor.
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A clear penalty
Speaking to Football Insider, Hackett could barely believe what he had seen. "Wow, the player had enough time to pull back his outstretched arm, which clearly made his body bigger," he said.
He left no room for doubt: "This is a deliberate handball, and a penalty should have been awarded."
Brighton had struck first. Yasin Ayari opened the scoring in the 11th minute after the ball reached Maxim De Cuyper, who put it into the net.
City threw everything at the game, firing off 21 shots, but Bart Verbruggen was unbeatable in the Brighton goal. The keeper saved seven attempts and kept out 1.74 expected goals.
Coming a week after the loss to Aston Villa, the result handed City a second straight Premier League defeat.
City, the report noted, had been on the right side of a refereeing error themselves last September, when VAR allowed Erling Haaland's decisive goal to stand in the win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The Brighton call, it argued, was a mirror image of that United moment. Yet it stressed that this does not excuse City's failure to score, after they conceded early and wasted numerous chances.