West Ham United striker Michail Antonio has given his reaction to Mario Lemina’s controversial sending off for Wolves against Southampton.
The midfielder was given his marching orders by Jarred Gillett last Saturday at St. Mary’s Stadium.
The dismissal has been a big talking point this week.
Lemina picked up an early booking for a foul on Carlos Alcaraz.
He then got a second for the way he approached Gillett when he wanted to contest a decision.
Lemina hadn’t been awarded a free-kick, and so decided to make a beeline for Gillett.
The referee, already surrounded by Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves – immediately brandished a yellow card.
The incident was a topic of conversation on this week’s Footballers Football podcast, featuring Antonio and Callum Wilson. The pair often talk about the previous weekend’s action in the Premier League.
Antonio has admitted he’s watched the incident 10 times, and really cannot fathom it.
The £85,000-a-week star said: “Let me explain it, let me explain what happened and then you lot talk. Something has happened and then Moutinho has run over to the referee. Neves has run over the referee and then Lemina runs over to him third. Lemina is already on a yellow card and as soon as he even walks in the direction of the referee, he’s like a good five yards away!
“Moutinho and Neves are two yards away from him. But the time he’s walked to him he’s taken out a yellow card and carded him. I’ve watched the video like 10 times because I was like ‘he had to have said something, he had to have done something’.
“But when I look at it his mouth doesn’t even move, he’s literally just gone over to him and as soon as he’s come over to him he’s got the yellow and was like ‘nah, get off’. He didn’t care at all. It’s like get off the pitch. I couldn’t believe it. I can’t believe he’s done that.”
Michail Antonio’s shock sums up ridiculousness of Mario Lemina sending off
It is good to hear another Premier League player given this kind of reaction to what was a ridiculous situation.
Antonio couldn’t believe it, and many Wolves fans still can’t.
If the PGMOL want to stop players surrounding the referee, they should have made it very clear what the repercussions would be.
That’s the thing that isn’t sitting right with a lot of Wolves fans. It just seemed a totally unnecessary thing to do by Gillett, especially because Lemina didn’t say anything.
Wolves fans are now watching other Premier League games to see if there is consistency with this. They likely won’t hold their breath.