Keith Hackett in no doubt about Brennan Johnson controversy vs FC Copenhagen
Keith Hackett has insisted that Brennan Johnson should not have been sent off in Tottenham’s win against FC Copenhagen on Tuesday.
Tottenham beat Copenhagen 4-0 in the Champions League, on what was a confidence-boosting night for Thomas Frank‘s side.
Johnson, Wilson Odobert, Micky van de Ven, and Joao Palhinha scored at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, despite the red card.
After the winger’s yellow card was upgraded to red after a review, Johnson became the first British player to score and be sent off in a Champions League game.
The moment will go down as a footnote on a superb night, however, with the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium seeing a great response after Tottenham lost 1-0 to Chelsea on Saturday.
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Keith Hackett questions VAR intervention
Johnson’s challenge had not looked to be much of anything at the time, with Copenhagen defender Marcos Lopez not even going down.
Referee Erik Lambrechts issued a yellow card, but video assistant referee Bram van Driessche halted play while he viewed the incident more closely.
On closer inspection, Johnson’s studs had been raised and were not near the ball, making contact with the Achilles of Lopez.
There appeared to be little force in the challenge, however, which looked far worse when played in slow motion.
An on-field review was recommended and Lambrechts overturned his decision, issuing a straight red card.
Hackett exclusively told Tottenham News that both the video assistant referee and the on-field official made a mistake.
“The referee in a good position clearly judged that the challenge was reckless and was correct to sanction the challenge with a yellow card,” the former PGMOL chief said.
“There is no clear and obvious error and VAR should not have intervened. The referee is wrong to show a red card.”
What games will Brennan Johnson miss?
Johnson’s red card will see him handed a three-game ban in the Champions League due to serious foul play.
The winger will serve the first game of that suspension when Tottenham travel to Paris Saint-Germain at the end of November, before ruling him out of a clash with Slavia Prague in December.
Johnson’s ban will then extend into January, when he will miss a game against Borussia Dortmund at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Frank will be able to deploy the Wales international once again for Tottenham’s final Champions League group stage game, against Eintracht Frankfurt at the end of January.