Ex-ref Gallagher: VAR saved Tottenham midfielder Maddison

Tottenham's James Maddison would have been sent off if VAR had intervened on Sunday.

The attacker was involved in an incident with Nottingham Forest's Ryan Yates in an eventual 3-1 Spurs win.

Maddison appeared to strike the midfielder, but VAR did not ask referee Simon Hooper to take a look at the incident, which he seemed to have missed.

"This was really interesting because it got flagged by VAR," ex-Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher told Sky Sports' Ref Watch.

"I listened to the VAR. Maddison had already got a yellow card and I thought it would be a very interesting decision. The VAR came to the decision, and I quote, 'no evidence of violent conduct'. That's his choice.

"What I will say is, the referee has to be guided by VAR because he doesn't see it. VAR doesn't send him to the screen so he doesn't see the incident again. If he did, who knows what decision he would make?

"I think Maddison is really lucky. If you do that on a football field and you get sent off, you haven't got a leg to stand on. The referee hasn't had a chance to look at it because of the VAR protocol. It hasn't met the threshold."