Manchester City’s first penalty in their 5-1 win over Wolves should not have been awarded, an independent panel has said.
Wolves defender Rayan Ait-Nouri was penalised after colliding with City defender Josko Gvardiol in the area.
A five-person Key Match Incident Panel voted by a 3-2 majority that referee Craig Pawson should not have given a spot-kick.
However, it unanimously agreed the video assistant referee was correct not to intervene.
Erling Haaland converted the penalty and went on to score four goals, including a second spot-kick, in the win at Etihad Stadium.
The Key Match Incident Panel is independent and made up of three former players or coaches, one Premier League representative and one from the Professional Game Match Officials Board, the referees’ body.
It reviews the big refereeing decisions from each Premier League round of fixtures.
When reviewing the Ait-Nouri-Gvardiol incident, the majority of the panel deemed the on-field decision incorrect because it was a “coming together due to the normal actions of both players and the challenge is not reckless”.
Two panellists disagreed and thought it was a foul by Ait-Nouri, though all five agreed there were “not sufficient grounds” for intervention by VAR.
