Ex-Premier League referee: Leicester City star Caglar Soyuncu nearly facing extended ban as Arsenal footage analysed
Leicester City defender Caglar Soyuncu would have been sent off at Arsenal and be facing a three-match ban were it not for his teammate Luke Thomas.
That is according to ex-Fifa and Premier League official Keith Hackett, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the controversial penalty incident at the Emirates on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta's side were awarded a penalty on the hour mark after Thomas Partey's header brushed Soyuncu's hand inside the box.
Anthony Taylor did not spot the incident but after consulting the pitch-side monitor on the advice of VAR official Darren England, he pointed to the spot.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match(13 March), Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers took issue with the decision.
When asked if Soyuncu should have been sent off, Hackett told Football Insider's Dylan Childs: "Soyuncu was lucky that Thomas was behind him.
"I'm going with the referee on this one. I am not red carding him.
"If you watch it closely, Thomas is on the cover and clears it off the line. It is for that reason that it's not a red card. The covering defender saves him. That is the nonsense of it.
"What the referee has to ask himself is, 'Did that handball deny a goal?' In this case, it didn't because the defender kicked it after a slight touch from Soyuncu.
"I thought that was really good use of VAR. Darren England did really well coming in because first time round I did not see that."