By Kieran King
Former Premier League referee Mike Dean was left speechless after the VAR screen was not working properly during the game between Burnley and Brentford.
Referee Darren Bond was instructed to go over to look at his pitch-side monitor inside the opening 10 minutes at Turf Moor after Vitinho was brought down by Sergio Reguilon inside the area.
Reguilon, who joined Brentford on loan from Tottenham in January, appeared to shove Vitinho in the back as the Burnley full-back was through on goal. Bond initially waved away appeals but stopped the match as VAR official Paul Tierney told him to go and have a look at the incident again.
However, controversy struck as a technical error stopped the VAR screen from working properly. There were no pictures of the footage and fans were forced to wait around FIVE minutes for the penalty - which was described as "stonewall" by Mike Dean - to be given by Bond.
In the process, Reguilon was also shown a straight red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity. But after a long wait, Jacob Bruun Larsen stepped up from the spot and slotted the ball beyond Mark Flekken to give second-bottom Burnley, who were without a win in 10 fixtures, the lead.
The Sky Sports Soccer Saturday studio could not believe what they were witnessing during the VAR fiasco, however. Clinton Morrison said: "They are going to stop the game and have a look at it. It's going to be a penalty. Reguilon has put his hands on his [Vitinho] back and he's in on goal."
Dean then explained: "Stonewall, he has kneed him in the back of the leg and there is a push as well. Paul Tierney is the VAR and he has sent Darren [Bond] over. It will be an interesting decision really because if the penalty stands, he [Reguilon] has made no attempt to play the ball so it could be a potential red card, too."
Dean, Morrison and Paul Merson then spotted that there had been a failure with VAR and that there
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