At 21:09, Aston Villa confirmed that Jhon Duran's red card at Newcastle United, and the accompanying three-match suspension, had been upheld after an appeal.

At 21:12, on the south coast, Brighton and Hove Albion forward Joao Pedro was the subject of a VAR check after he swung an elbow in the direction of Brentford player Yehor Yarmoliuk, during the goalless draw between the two sides. Yarmoliuk had initially pulled on the shirt of Pedro, who reacted angrily with his action - although he made no contact with his opponent.

VAR, as a result, decided against taking action and didn't even request that referee Andy Madley review the incident himself. It was a process of decision making which bemused Bees boss Thomas Frank.

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"Yes. As I understand the rules, you can't swing an arm to hit someone, whether you hit them or not," he replied after the game, when asked if Pedro should've been sent off. "That's why we have got VAR. It happened, we have to make it [VAR] better in the future."

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Within three minutes on Friday, it rather encapsulated Villa's own frustrations. Both president and director of football operations, Monchi and Damian Vidagany, took to social media to share their angst towards the decision to uphold Duran's red card. He'll be unavailable now for the next three games - all of them at home - against Brighton, Leicester and West Ham, the latter in the FA Cup third round.

Pedro, meanwhile, will be clear to take part as part of the Seagulls squad which heads north to Villa Park on Monday evening, having been granted a reprieve from what was as similarly a far-from-clear-cut incident as Duran's.