Taylor would have had to be pretty dumb not to have realised that the Leeds player was playacting, so obvious was the tumble. In truth Taylor had no choice though. The people who run the game have created this monster and referees are not allowed to exercise common sense. My view of the incident was that the Arsenal player was foolish but not violent and would have been shown a yellow card, as would the Leeds player for simulation
Mr Taylor didn't see the incident. His attention was drawn to it by the VAR. VARs have no authority to recommend action over yellow card offences, such as simulation, so there was simply no option for Mr Taylor to caution Alioski. As for the red card:
...a player who, when not challenging for the ball, deliberately strikes an opponent or any other person on the head or face with the hand or arm, is guilty of violent conduct unless the force used was negligible.
Alioski may have exaggerated the contact but it is a stretch to say the contact was negligible. The sanctions taken were correct.
I agree, Pepe's head moved towards Alioski, and although Alioski may have exaggerated the contact, there was contact and the red card was appropriate. The lack of protest after the incident was reviewed on the monitor and the red card was shown is relevant.
This is exactly the point here. Taylor had no option because the game has degenerated into a complete farce. The fact that the red card was 'appropriate' is precisely what is wrong with the game. As Ashington said, it is getting worse. Teams would rather manufacture free kicks and penalties for the slightest contact as it is their best hope of scoring. Getting opponents sent off by playacting (as happened here) is just another part of the cheat's charter that the game has become. I despair, and I want no part of it.