Kai Havertz and Rodri incident explained amid Man City vs Arsenal VAR red card decision

Arsenal's Kai Havertz clashed with Manchester City midfielder Rodri in the opening seconds of their Premier League encounter, forcing VAR into a tough decision

Kai Havertz was not shown a straight red card in the opening seconds of Arsenal's Premier League clash with Manchester City as VAR judged the incident to be 'body to body' contact, 'both each running into the other'.

Despite its placement on the top-flight calendar, Man City v Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium - a clash between the top two clubs from each of the prior two Premier League campaigns - is tipped to have a huge say in the next title race. As expected, the match got off to a feisty start.

Within three seconds of the home side's kick-off, midfielder Rodri was down on the turf clutching his face. Replays showed Arsenal's Havertz to have bumped into his opponent as he moved off from the halfway line, with Sky Sports co-commentators Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher debating any deliberate intention behind the movement of the German international.

If this was found to be the case, the forward most certainly was facing an early sending off for violent conduct. However, referee Michael Oliver allowed the incident to be referred to his video assistant referee (VAR) John Brooks at Stockley Park, who in turn found nothing wrong upon review.

According lead commentator Peter Drury, the official signalling from Brooks was that Havertz and Rodri's contact was 'body to body' with no malice involved, and Rodri's discomfort arrived as a result of 'both running into each other'.

In the minutes since the incident the match has continued at the same intensity. A spanner was first thrown into the works for Mikel Arteta's men as Erling Haaland has put the reigning champions 1-0 ahead after nine minutes.

Rodri later had another coming together with Thomas Partey, with Brooks again ruling no foul play was involved, and the Spaniard was forced to leave the field with injury. Riccardo Calafiori - starting in the Premier League for the first time - then got Arsenal back on level terms with a thunderous strike into the top right corner.

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