Brighton 1-1 Bournemouth: Were the hosts right to be angry at the VAR decision?

The incident occurred around the half-hour mark when Bournemouth’s Adly was initially booked for simulating by referee Paul Tierney after going down under a challenge from goalkeeper Verbruggen.

However, following a recommendation from VAR official Jared Gillett, Tierney reviewed the decision on the pitchside monitor, reversed his decision and awarded a penalty – signaling that the contact had taken place.

Tavernier then scored the penalty to give the visitors the first goal, which looked like winning the game for Bournemouth until Kostaulas’ late intervention.

Replays showed that the slightest contact was made by Verbruggen’s high foot, but with the ball hurtling wide of goal, Brighton staff, players and fans were furious with the decision.

After a weekend that saw Arsenal fuming at not being awarded a penalty and not sending off Manchester City’s angry Diogo Dalot in the Manchester derby defeat, another decision was the main talking point on Monday night.

Former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry told Sky Sports: “It’s a penalty. You raise your leg and by the time you hit the player, the ball is in play. Regardless of whether he can get it or not, it’s still in play.”

“In the modern era, as we all know, you look at the situation in slow motion. And it was awarded. Instead of arguing about this now, whether it was a penalty or not, it could have been avoided and we can clearly see the contact.”

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher added: “This type of penalty kick would not have been awarded 10 years ago. The ball is still in play and you can see the contact. El Adly would not have won the ball.”

VAR fouls have risen in the first half of the Premier League season.

Data compiled by BBC Sport taken from the Premier League’s Key Match Incident (KMI) panel shows fouls increased by 30% season on season from 10 to 13 before the weekend.

This is still a marked improvement on previous years, with 20 fouls at this stage of the 2023-24 season and 23 in 2022-23.