Arsenal suffered a damaging blow to their hopes of winning the title as Liverpool extended the gap to 11 points after beating Manchester City and West Ham secured a 1-0 win at the Emirates Stadium.

The question however is, should it have been a card at all and instead a free-kick to Arsenal?

This is the talking point set to dominate the discussion in this week’s referee review. Craig Pawson is in focus as football.london assesses the big talking point of the clash in north London.

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Let’s talk about the action which got Myles Lewis-Skelly sent off in the first place. Naturally there were comparisons made to the William Saliba sending off from earlier in the season.

At Bournemouth, the Frenchman pulled down Evanilson, denying him the chance to run onto a loose pass from Leandro Trossard. The positions of David Raya and Ben White were deemed to have been they key factors in why the red card was given after initially a yellow was shown.

Again, Raya and Saliba’s position were as such that had Kudus got away from Lewis-Skelly, it would have been a clear goalscoring opportunity. Lewis-Skelly takes the Ghanaian international down and denies him that run.

FL review: What has surprised many has been the fact that Pawson gave Lewis-Skelly a yellow card in the moment. Before replays were available, sitting in the stands I thought it was a red card, and a clear denial to take a shot at an open goal from range.

With the bar so high for VAR intervention, that said, I would much prefer we see this than the red shown by Michael Oliver at Wolves. It allows for a second look by the referee in these instances to change the decision.

FL verdict: What was visible to Craig Pawson in the moment, he made the wrong decision.

This is where however it gets more complicated and while Pawson is not spared here, this is where VAR should have shown the on-field official the challenge made by Kudus on Lewis-Skelly which led to him being brought down. Lewis-Skelly turns away from Kudus and could play the ball back immediately but for whatever reason decides to try again turn.

Kudus then comes in and with his leading right arm, proceeds to smash Lewis-Skelly in the back of the head. When Pawson goes to the monitor, the VAR is more concerned with showing him the position of Raya and Saliba as opposed to the action which leads to the sending off.

FL review: The wrong decision is made in the end and a foul should have been given to Arsenal as a result. While I doubt this would have had much of an impact on Arsenal winning, they struggled to win with 11 men as much as ten but there is no telling what this could have changed as a result.

Perhaps the ability to bring on the likes of Nathan Butler-Oyedeji was compromised by having one less player. Perhaps it aided West Ham’s ability to break dangerously and take the ball away from any promising attacks.

FL verdict: Incorrect decision, foul by Mohammed Kudus, free-kick to Arsenal.