Ruben van Bommel causes a melee and debate with a brutal foul against Ajax - referees’ chief weighs in

In the 80th minute in Amsterdam, the visitors from Eindhoven led 2-1 when Ruben van Bommel crudely flattened his opponent Aaron Bouwman in an aerial challenge.

On first viewing, the incident immediately brought to mind Toni Schumacher's notorious collision with Patrick Battiston in the semi-final of the 1982 World Cup. Ajax's Bouwman went up for a routine header, but van Bommel, carrying considerable momentum, appeared to target only the opponent's body and crashed hip first into his head and upper body.

A melee broke out straight away. Several Ajax players angrily charged at van Bommel, while his PSV team-mates rushed in to defend him. One of the first to reach Bouwman, writhing on the ground, was Amsterdam's German goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who waved frantically for medical assistance for the 19-year-old defender.

Ref shows yellow - and causes head-shaking and dissent

Yet referee Sander van der Eijk, to the likely astonishment of most watching, produced only a yellow card. The video assistant did not intervene.

"For me, this is nothing other than a red," said Ajax's Davy Klaassen about the foul on his team-mate, who was unable to continue after van Bommel's challenge and was replaced by former Schalke player Thilo Kehrer.

Apparently, Raymond van Meenen, head of refereeing at the Dutch football association, saw it the same way. Journalist Hugo Borst reported as much in his role as an expert for broadcaster ESPN NL.

"I have already spoken with head of refereeing Raymond van Meenen. He will not try to dress this up," Borst said. "He agrees that this was a red card for Ruben van Bommel and a wrong decision."

PSV remain unbeaten on course - Ajax suffer first defeat

Then, with van Bommel still on the pitch, PSV made it 3-1 in stoppage time through Esmir Bajraktarevic. Eindhoven at least temporarily climbed to the top of the table with 13 points from five games. Ajax suffered their first defeat of the season.

As well as ter Stegen, former Dortmund player Julian Brandt also started for Amsterdam. For Eindhoven, Ricardo Pepi, formerly of Augsburg, and Lutsharel Geertruida, formerly of RB Leipzig, had scored in the first half. Tolu Arokodare netted the interim 1-1 equaliser for the home side.

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