Imho he was in a no win situation. On one hand we want Referee’s to make decisions without having to rely on VAR and on the other, it is considered that had he allowed play to continue then the controversy could have been minimised - though perhaps not with RustyRef suggesting that the incident may not have even been referred to VAR. If this was the case, then I suggest it could have even looked messier if he had allowed the ball to have been placed into the goal net before bringing play back to award a free kick.Agree that the outcome of the decision would have been unchanged, however, the controversy surrounding it would, almost certainly, have been minimised.



