Nick Walsh pointed to the spot after the Light Blues defender went down under a challenge from Samuel Ramos, with VAR allowing the on-field decision to stand.

But the call has split the refereeing experts, with Mark Clattenburg and Bobby Madden unconvinced there was enough in the challenge to warrant a spot-kick, while Dermot Gallagher stressed how difficult it would have been for VAR to overturn Walsh’s decision.

Clattenburg, speaking on the So Near, Yet So VAR podcast, said: “Sometimes the best decisions are the ones you don’t give.

“What doesn’t help Nick Walsh is the way the Rangers player goes down. It isn’t consistent with the contact.

“When you start seeing the small contact on the foot, there is contact, there is no doubt. But when that contact makes him fly through the air like a swan, then you’ve got to question if there was enough contact to award a penalty kick.

“I don’t believe there is. Again, the best decision is the one you don’t give, so just play on.

“Football is a contact sport. Not every bit of contact is a foul, we have to accept that.

“Penrice’s actions aren’t consistent with the contact on the foot. That is enough for a referee to say, ‘I’ve got a doubt’, and just play on.”

Madden was in agreement with his So Near, Yet So VAR co-host and reckoned Walsh had become too focused on the contact itself.

He said: “I don’t think it is enough contact.

“If you look at it from the referee’s perspective, he is very well placed and he will see Penrice take the touch away from goal.

“He will then see the defender coming in and trying to play the ball, not playing the ball and making contact.

“Again, hyper-focused on this contact, probably not recognising that the reaction from Penrice did not merit the contact he received, and he has awarded a penalty kick very confidently.

“It is very difficult for VAR to intervene because they will look at it and see this contact.

“That’s not enough for a penalty kick. It’s not enough for that reaction and not enough for a penalty kick.”

Former Premier League referee Gallagher offered a different perspective when the incident came under the microscope on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch.

He said: “He couldn’t have a better view than the referee and, what you said, the defender definitely doesn’t get the ball.

“But where the referee is, he’s got the perfect view. There’s the ball, Rangers player plays the ball, he doesn’t.

“It’s very, very hard to go against a referee in that situation, if at all possible. And there’s the touch there.”

The verdicts

MARK CLATTENBURG: NO PENALTY
Accepted there was contact but felt it was not enough to justify Penrice’s “fly through the air like a swan” reaction, believing Walsh should have played on.

BOBBY MADDEN: NO PENALTY
Felt Walsh became “hyper-focused” on the contact without considering whether Penrice’s reaction matched it, insisting there was not enough in the challenge for a spot-kick.

DERMOT GALLAGHER: VAR RIGHT TO STICK WITH CALL
Pointed to Walsh having the “perfect view”, Ramos failing to win the ball and there being contact on Penrice, making it “very, very hard” for VAR to overturn the on-field decision.

Overall: Two against the penalty, with Gallagher backing VAR’s decision not to intervene.