Tottenham vs Brighton: PGMOL admit VAR error denied Seagulls penalty

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) have admitted that Brighton should have been awarded a penalty in Saturday's defeat to Tottenham.

Roberto De Zerbi's team felt aggrieved throughout the game but were incensed when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's penalty box challenge on Kaoru Mitoma went unnoticed by referee Stuart Attwell.

The Video Assistant Referee also declined to intervene, and Brighton's misery would soon be compounded as Hojbjerg assisted a winning goal for Harry Kane ten minutes from time.

PGMOL chief Howard Webb is understood to have reached out to Brighton to confess that the penalty should have been awarded.

It's an incident which could have major ramifications on the race for Europe this season. Brighton dropped to seventh as a result of the defeat, but victory would have seen them move just one point behind fifth-placed Tottenham with two games in hand.

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"I don't see what VAR is here for," Brighton's Lewis Dunk said after the game. "You bring it in for big decisions and don't make big decisions. What is the point of it? He has clearly fouled him."

Brighton have also asked for clarification around five key decisions from the game, including another penalty claim from Dunk and two disallowed Brighton goals, as well as the red card shown to manager De Zerbi.

This is not the first time that PGMOL have apologised to Brighton this season. Their meeting with Crystal Palace in February hit the headlines when VAR John Brooks drew the wrong lines for an offside decision on a Brighton goal, sparking an emergency meeting over refereeing standards in the Premier League.

Reports also suggest Brighton received an apology before the World Cup over a mistake in November when Solly March was not awarded a penalty despite appearing to be caught by Aston Villa's Lucas Digne.

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