Manny Muscat was sent off in the 70th minute after an elbow to the face of Sydney FC player Michael Zullo.

Only seven minutes earlier Muscat was on the ground after Sky Blue's striker Bobo raked his studs down the shin of City man. But there was no intervention from the VAR.

VAR operator, Stebre Delovski, went on camera to explain the decision.

“For me it was pretty clear for the Manny Muscat one,” he told Fox Sports.

“He had a clenched fist and it was an elbow to the face, To me that's a clear red card for an elbow to the face - so we had no hesitation in that one."

Bobo's infringement, however, fell somewhere between a red and yellow, he said. VAR does not rule on yellows in open play.

"It was definitely reviewed, we didn't think there was serious mis-incident," Delovski said.

"We were determining whether it was violent conduct because it happened off the ball.

"For us it was pretty grey whether it was red or yellow so from our point of view we've set a very high bar this year with the VAR.

"From our point of view that grey area we really shouldn't be touching. We definitely looked at it but we found it wasn't a clear serious.mis-incident."

Earlier in the game the VAR did its job, awarding a clear goal to Luke Brattan on 37 minutes after his shot, which thundered off the underside of the crossbar and over the line, was missed by officials.

But Fox sports commentator, Simon Hill, echoed the concerns of many fans regarding the Bobo-Muscat discrepancy.

"Well, this for me, sums up the problem with the VAR,” Hill said.

“Now that’s not to say that Manny Muscat is guilt-free in this instance, because I don’t think he is.

“But what about Bobo at the other end of the pitch some minutes ago? That to me … is where it’s inconsistent.

“You have to ask the question as to why Bobo wasn’t sanctioned for his illegal play, when Muscat was.”