Premier League referees' chief Howard Webb has said Anthony Taylor was correct to award a penalty against Arsenal defender William Saliba in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Brighton.
Saliba was adjudged to have fouled João Pedro when he attempted to win a ball which had bounced up, heading the striker in the side of the face.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said after the game he was "really disappointed with the decision" and that he'd "never seen something like this in my life." Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler felt it was "a clear penalty."
Speaking on the latest edition of Match Officials Mic'd Up, Webb said that he backed the decision to award the spot kick, explaining that the ball touching the head of the Arsenal defender after Pedro had played it did not negate the award.
"I can't think of something like this, that doesn't mean it's wrong," Webb said. "It means it's unusual.
"What you see in this situation is two players going towards a ball in the air. Pedro flicks it up, he and Saliba go towards the ball and Pedro heads it onto Saliba. Saliba doesn't head it.
"Saliba has the ball flicked onto his head and then he goes into the head of Pedro. He gets there late on Pedro, who goes down. It's a late contact by someone who hasn't played the ball himself. The ball has touched him, but he's not played it. And Pedro goes down.
"When you break it down in that way, it's a foul. I know it has split opinion but I've heard a lot of people see it in that way, it's a late contact by a player who has failed to play the ball and has made contact with the player in the penalty area.
"If he heads the ball first at that loose ball and there's a collision, I have no issue with that and then there's a collision. That's not what happened. Pedro gets there first and heads it onto Saliba. Saliba goes into Pedro, the ball brushes his head, but he then goes into Pedro['s path].
"That touch on the ball doesn't negate the possible award of a penalty. We've seen other examples where the ball may touch a player but there's still heavy contact on the follow through and it's a penalty.
"If a player cleanly plays the ball away or heads the ball away, you're looking at something different. That's not what happens here. Pedro heads the ball onto Saliba, who goes into Pedro and takes him down. For that reason, this is a very supportable penalty kick."