VAR had to intervene in Liverpool's clash with Brentford over a headbutting action that resulted in a red card for Yehor Yarmolyuk, which sparked mixed opinions on the decision

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has claimed that the VAR was right to intervene in the decision to send off Brentford ace Yehor Yarmolyuk, after his headbutting motion towards Liverpool defender Jeremy Jacquet.

It follows the call from referee John Brooks, who was prompted to the pitchside monitor to review the decision after missing the initial action between the two players.

The match official reviewed the incident several times before deciding to show Yarmolyuk a red card for violent conduct, in a moment that turned the match on its head for both teams.

With Brentford leading at the time, just before the break, the sending off transformed Liverpool's fortunes, as goals from Victor Munoz and Alexander Isak earned the Reds all three points in a second-half fightback.

The red card, serving as a turning point in the match, drew mixed opinions from fans: some believed the decision was soft, while others felt it was a justified call by the referee and the VAR on the day.

For ex-referee Gallagher, the decision was the right one, as he told Sky Sports on Ref Watch: "It is [the right decision] and it’s consistent with last week [Rodrigo Bentancur’s red card during Tottenham’s match with Manchester United]. You know, if you put a head into somebody’s face like that, you’re going to get sent off."

The comparison with the headbutt by Rodrigo Bentancur, which saw him sent off for Tottenham the week before, almost certainly shows that the decision was correct. And that was a unanimous decision among the rest of the panel on Ref Watch's review.

Former Tottenham and Aston Villa coach Tim Sherwood went on to say: "It was clear. If we’re going like Dermot says on consistency, we’ve just seen one from Bentancur the week before, there’s no way they could’ve gone the other way. Now they might have thought twice about it if there’s a couple of months between them, then he makes a decision.

"But Yarmolyuk is stupid. He’s looking at the referee, and he almost forgets that there’s a VAR there, because he’s looking at the ref, the ref is not looking at him, so he thinks I’m going to stick my nut into him a little bit, so that’s what he does.

"Doesn’t hurt him [Jacquet] at all. But then the VAR have looked at it and said you’ve got to send him off. It took a long time. They got to the right decision in the end.”

Former player Jay Bothroyd added: "Yeah [it’s the right decision], you have to be consistent. Again, I don’t like seeing this type of thing but it’s the right decision and I think the referees have been consistent.

"I don’t like the fact that it has taken three minutes. Like you can see that after, I can see that after five seconds and say it’s going to be a red card. What takes three minutes?"

It means that any likelihood of an appeal would be unsuccessful, though Brentford coach Keith Andrews appeared to indicate that the decision was the right one, while Andoni Iraola was a bit unsure on the whole situation.

It's a moment that seemingly handed the game to Liverpool, though the performance levels will still need to improve, as those calls are unlikely to come about every week.