Aston Villa and Nicolas Jackson were left incensed when Newcastle United defender Sven Botman was not red carded

Sven Botman should have been handed a red card for his late and aggressive tackle on Nicolas Jackson, the Premier League's Key Match Incidents (KMI) panel has decided. On October 17, Aston Villa overcame Newcastle United through Johan Manzambi's first half goal.

Before the Switzerland international's match-winner, Botman caught Jackson with a late, two-footed challenge which left the Senegalese ace reeling. After the match, the summer signing said the Dutchman could have broke his leg.

However, Botman was only handed a yellow card, to the fury of Unai Emery's side. Looking back at the tackle, the KMI concluded Botman should have been dismissed, but also insisted the tackle did not warrant a VAR overturn.

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In its most recent incident review, the panel stated: "This was a split decision, with the majority of the panel feeling that a red card for serious foul play should have been awarded, 4:1.

"Botman was out of control, lunging at speed, making forceful contact with Jackson despite his leading leg missing the Villa attacker. The non-VAR intervention was supported, 3:2, on the basis it was not a clear and obvious error."

Botman remained on the pitch for the remainder of the fixture, though it made little difference as Villa secured a one-goal victory over Mathias Jaissle's side.

When asked how he was after the tackle, a frustrated Jackson said: "I'm good. I know the referee said yellow card but it was so high and hopefully maybe next time a red card, but it was a yellow. I nearly broke my leg but anyway it's part of football."

Premier League referees' chief Howard Webb described Botman's challenge as "reckless" but insisted it did not meet the threshold for VAR to intervene.

Speaking on Match Officials Mic'd Up, Webb said: "The referee in the moment, on the ground, sees it as a reckless challenge - no doubt a high-end reckless challenge - as Botman comes in and gets a touch on the ball.

"But he doesn't see that. He realises it's subjective, and he allows it to stay on the field with the referee's call standing.

"Equally, if that had been a red card, for sure it would've been check complete by the VAR as well. So, it's a good example really of how the referee's call is working in the Premier League this season.

"A lighter-touch approach: let the referees referee the decision and the VAR step in when there's something clearly really wrong."