The Premier League have explained that Southampton's Jack Stephens was sent-off for violent conduct on Marc Cucurella during Chelsea's latest match on Wednesday night.
Stephens was sent-off by Tony Harrington in the 39th minute for pulling Cucurella's hair from behind. The referee was called to the monitor by VAR, Matt Donohue, and Harrington later deemed it worthy of a red card for violent conduct as the Southampton centre-back was given his marching orders.
Explaining that first-half decision on the Premier League Match Centre X (formerly Twitter) account, the Premier League said: "38' VAR OVERTURN. The VAR recommended an on-field review for [a] possible violent conduct from Jack Stephens. The referee then issued a red card."
Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg, who was called on to explain the decision, told Amazon's Prime Video: "It's certainly an act of craziness. It's interesting because not every pull it's going to be deemed a foul - or a yellow or red card. But when you pull someone's hair, it's not a footballing action. You pull somebody's shirt but not somebody's hair.
"He's paid the price for violent conduct by pulling the hair in a violent way and therefore he's going to receive a red card and a three-match ban."
The red card came after Chelsea led 3-1 following goals from Axel Disasi, Christopher Nkunku and Noni Madueke. Stephens will now be absent for the Saints' next three games against Aston Villa, Tottenham and Fulham.
Ex-referee Mike Dean has previously revealed he should have recommended Anthony Taylor to review Cristian Romero's hair pull on Cucurella during the 2-2 draw against Tottenham - two years ago. "No referee wants to be driving home from a game knowing they should have made a different call," he said.
"Sometimes, in hindsight, you realise you could have acted differently. For the second goal by Harry Kane, I asked referee Anthony Taylor to wait while I looked at the incident involving Tottenham's Cristian Romero and Chelsea's Marc Cucurella. I could not award a free-kick, as the VAR, but I could recommend to Taylor that he visit the referee review area to consider a possible red card.
"In the few seconds I had to study Romero pulling Cucurella's hair, I didn't deem that a violent act. I've since studied the footage, spoken to other referees and, upon reflection, I should have asked Taylor to visit his pitch-side monitor to take a look himself. The referee on-field always has the final say.
"It goes to show you that no matter how experienced you are, and I've spent more than two decades as a Premier League official, you are always learning. It's disappointing for me as this was one incident in an otherwise very good weekend from our officials."
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Premier League