'One of the worst': Ref Watch panel delivers damning verdict of Chelsea v Burnley refereeing controversy

The Clarets were reduced to 10 men on the stroke of half-time at Stamford Bridge on Saturday when Lorenz Assignon was harshly adjudged to have fouled Mykhailo Mudryk inside the box.

Already on a booking, Darren England took the decision to show a second booking to the Frenchman, despite there being minimal contact.

Before Cole Palmer dispatched the penalty to give Chelsea a 1-0 lead, Clarets boss Vincent Kompany was also sent off for his remonstrations on the touchline.

Burnley, however, managed to fight back with 10 men to draw 2-2 thanks to goals from Josh Cullen and Dara O’Shea.

The incident was one of the main focuses of Monday’s episode of Sky Sports’ Ref Watch and former referee Dermot Gallagher, normally someone who likes to staunchly defend the officials, was unable to offer much of an explanation.

When asked what he made of the incident, Gallagher said: “Interesting…I just cannot see how it’s a penalty.

“I talk about referees and how tough it is but I don't know what's made him think that's a penalty. It's not a penalty, 100 per cent.

“He then gives him a yellow card – I'm not sure what that's for. It can't be for denying a goalscoring opportunity because Mudryk is not in possession of the ball.

“You give a penalty, that is wrong. A yellow card, that's wrong, which becomes a red card, so the player is sent off and he's going to serve a one-match ban because there's no appeal.

“It starts to ramp up because the manager is frustrated and upset by this and he gets a red card."

Fellow panel member Stephen Warnock, meanwhile, didn’t hold back in his scathing criticism of the decision.

"That's one of the worst decisions of the season,” he said. “It's so easy. Where's the strength of the VAR to step up and say 'you got that wrong'?”

Gallager also confirmed that VAR’s decision to overrule Axel Disasi’s ‘goal’ for handball was the right one.