David Villa would have gotten away with this cheap shot, if it wasn't for that pesky Video Assistant Referee.
The newly-introduced system ended the Spanish striker's game early as his New York City FC slumped to a 3-1 Desert Diamond Cup defeat to Houston Dynamo on Saturday night.
VAR has been introduced in the MLS preseason as a means of advising referees on game-changing incidents including goals, penalty penalty claims and off-ball scuffles.
With the game level at 1-1 following Villa's equaliser, the former Barcelona and Valencia man was reprimanded for an off-the-ball incident with AJ DeLaGarza.
Villa was initially shown a yellow card for his involvement in the tussle, but the referee suddenly remembered that VAR was available.
He sprinted over to a monitor at the side of the pitch to review the footage and upgraded the offence to a sending off Villa was spotted clearly slapping the opposition player in the face.
Check out the incident in the video embedded below.
https://twitter.com/_marcuzzi/status/833135733506457601
