Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has slammed VAR for intervening in cancelling Chelsea’s late goal against Aston Villa.

Axel Disasi had a late winner ruled out for a foul initially committed by Benoit Badiashile in the build-up to the goal.

Craig Pawson initially let the goal stand, but changed his decision after using VAR to review the goal.

Mark Halsey said: “I was baffled why VAR got involved because it wasn’t a clear and obvious error. Referee Craig Pawson had a great view of the incident, he was looking directly at both players and allowed play to continue.

“If Pawson thought it was a foul by Benoit Badiashile on Diego Carlos then why didn’t he award a free-kick straight away? I felt it was a foul but Pawson had to give it in real time and then there wouldn’t have been a fuss afterwards.

“My big problem with this incident is it’s a classic case of technology re-refereeing a game and not what VAR is there for. VAR official Chris Kavanagh recommended an on-field review and Pawson changed his mind.

“I’ve watched Pawson for a long time and he does not seem to make the big decisions and uses VAR as a back-up. Although we got the right decision, the process of how we got there is not how we should be operating VAR in the Premier League.”