Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has weighed in on controversial moments from the festive fixture, including Joao Pedro’s elbow injury in Brighton’s 0-0 home draw with Brentford “Surprisingly” he escaped a red card.

Brighton 0-0 Brentford

event: Brighton striker Joao Pedro escaped punishment for throwing an elbow at Brentford player Jehor Yarmolyuk after being warned for pulling the Brazilian’s jersey.

Dermot said: “I don’t know what to say! When I saw it I thought he was going to go, which I really did, and then I was told it was because he didn’t make any contact and players don’t have to take evasive action.

“Well, you can read what you want – I think he got the best Christmas present he could have gotten, not a red card.

“I would be surprised if anyone in your poll didn’t vote for Red Card.

“There is no doubt in my mind that the football community expects red cards and referees need to be told that they have to take a stand and say this is unacceptable.

Regarding retroactive actions: “He was lucky because the referee was under VAR and VAR checked to see if there was violence and said no because he missed the player and therefore didn’t have to take evasive action.

“He made a judgment call on the incident and as a result it has been dealt with and concluded.”

Fulham 2-2 Bournemouth

event: Bournemouth midfielder Ryan Christie was booked for a two-footed tackle on Fulham left-back Anthony Robinson, with VAR agreeing with referee Rob Jones’ on-the-spot decision.

Dermot said: “He got a lot of the ball and that saved him from a red card – if he hadn’t got any he would have been sent off without a doubt.

“He made contact with the ball first and then he made contact with Robinson and that’s why the referee gave him a yellow card and that’s why VAR insisted on it. But it wasn’t a good tackle.”

Crystal Palace 2-1 Southampton

event: Trevor Chalobah’s equalizer against Southampton at Crystal Palace was reviewed by VAR for a possible foul on Saints goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.

Dermot said: “I actually thought it was a goal. When the ball came through, it was Ramsdale who pushed Jean-Philippe Matata first.

“I don’t understand how you can side with one person and not the other. If you think one person is an enabler, then you have to say the other person is an enabler.”

Motherwell 2-2 Rangers

event: Motherwell striker Tony Watt’s goal was disallowed for a foul on Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland, denying the home side a 3-1 lead.

Dermot said: “It was similar to the Ramsdale game, the only difference was his arm was in the air and he caught his arm. The referee (Kevin Clancy) thought so because he was so early Blown.”

event: Rangers believe Apostolos Stamatropoulos’ first goal for Motherwell should have been ruled out for handball.

Dermot said: “It’s really interesting – the ball hits the goalkeeper’s arm and his arm goes in, so the question has to be: was that intentional? Because that’s all you can give because he didn’t Scored from it, the ball was passed to another player (Tawanda Maswanhise) in front of the goal.

“I think his (Stamatropoulos’s) arm was tucked in and VAR (Steven McLean) said he didn’t mean it, so the game went on and he scored.”

event: Motherwell’s Lennon Miller was booked only after a late tackle on Rangers’ Oscar Cortes.

Dermot said: “I watched this and he got the ball after the guy, he got the guy first and it wasn’t a very good tackle – the only thing that saved him was the referee was too close and I don’t think he saw as clearly as we did.

“That’s the dilemma with VAR, what’s the threshold for getting involved, what’s a clear mistake? The referee was there and he gave a yellow card but they stuck with it.”