Newcastle United striker Callum Wilson believes Jarrd Gillett should have given Wolves midfielder Mario Lemina ‘a bit of leeway’ last weekend for his sending off.
Julen Lopetegui is preparing his side to face Bournemouth this weekend, but he will not be able to call on the Gabon international.
Lemina picked up two yellow cards against Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium.
The first was for a foul on Carlos Alcaraz.
The second was apparently for being a third player to surround Gillett after Wolves did not get a free-kick decision.
Lemina didn’t say anything. But Gillett turned around an immediately sent him off with Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho already being in his vicinity.
The incident has been a huge talking point, and now Wilson has had his say.
He said on the latest Footballer’s Football podcast: “I just think you have to give a bit of leeway, haven’t you? Because at the end of the day you know he’s only coming over.
“He might even have been walking over there to pull his teammates away and he’s getting carded on the way over.
“If he’s five yards away and they’re two yards away you don’t know what he’s going to do when he’s coming over, he might be pulling them away.”
What stings for Wolves fans is that there was no prior warning about this from the PGMOL/the Premier League.
And in last night’s game between Arsenal and Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium, referee Anthony Taylor didn’t give anyone a yellow card when he was surrounded by many players after Ederson’s foul on Eddie Nketiah.
Callum Wilson makes an excellent point on Mario Lemina’s sending off
This is a great point by Wilson.
Because Gillett had his back to Lemina, there was surely no way he could have known what was going to happen.
From his perspective, the midfielder could easily have been coming over to calm Neves and Moutinho down since they were already there. He could also have come steaming over in a fit of rage. The point is, he can’t have known.
It was just remarkable to see how quickly he got that second yellow card out, when he wasn’t even facing the player. He was far too rash, and seemed to be overly keen to stamp his authority.
He didn’t take a single second to consider anything. It was almost as if he couldn’t wait to dismiss him.
Wolves must now face Bournemouth without their new midfield general. And it remains to be seen if his absence will prove costly.