Manchester City defender Abdukodir Khusanov narrowly escaped a red card during his team’s Carabao Cup quarter-final against Brentford on Wednesday.
In the 16th minute, Khusanov charged in and brought down forward Kevin Schade while he was clear on goal. Despite the severity of the foul, the referee opted for only a yellow card.
Brentford players immediately surrounded referee Sam Barrott, urging him to reconsider and issue a red card, but he stood by his decision.
“It was a critical moment,” stated manager Keith Andrews. “I usually defend officials, but in this instance, I believe they missed the mark. The reasoning that Khusanov was too far from goal doesn’t feel justified.”
Former Man City player Andy Hinchcliffe commented on Sky Sports, saying, “Schade was about to shoot, and it was a clear goalscoring opportunity. I understand why Brentford is upset; there was no defender in position to challenge him.”
Sam Barrott only issued a yellow card to Abdukodir Khusanov (Getty Images)
According to the rules, Khusanov’s actions constituted a red card offense as he “denied the opposing team a goal or an obvious goalscoring opportunity,” as outlined in Law 12 of the IFAB rulebook.
Typically, such clear mistakes by the referee are subject to VAR review. However, the Carabao Cup does not implement VAR until the semi-finals—meaning it wasn’t available for this match. This is to maintain fairness, especially since League One side Cardiff City was also in the last eight and couldn’t utilize VAR, having been eliminated by Chelsea on Tuesday.
The absence of VAR ultimately benefited City, as they avoided a potential red card at a crucial moment in the match.
Later in the game, the hosts took the lead with a brilliant goal from Rayan Cherki in the 32nd minute.