#red-card

#red-card

An early goal by Cristiano Ronaldo was not enough as Al Nassr conceded three in the second half in a 3-1 loss to Saudi Pro League leaders Al Hilal on Monday. Ronaldo's first-half goal had given second-placed Al Nassr hope of pegging back Al Hilal's lead in the table, but two penalties by Salem Al-Dawsari and Rúben Neves either side of an exquisite finish from Mohamed Kanno gave the hosts the win and a seven-point lead over their Riyadh rivals.

Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella will only serve a one-match suspension following his red card in Wednesday's Premier League defeat to local rivals Fulham. The Spaniard, 27, received a straight red card for pulling back Fulham's Harry Wilson when he was running through on goal. An offence which leads to the denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO) is punished by a one-match ban.

Marcelino Garcia Toral came bounding down the steps like an excited schoolboy when the bell goes. He flew past the substitutes and staff, skidded left, and sprinted up the line all wide-eyed and excited, shaking his fists and beaming. He had gone 15 or 20 metres, maybe 25 when he realised just a fraction later than everyone else that something had gone wrong again.

Virgil van Dijk has said he spoke to Xavi Simons following the midfielder's red card in Liverpool's 2-1 win over Tottenham and insisted there was no intent to cause injury.

The characteristics of a reckless challenge, originally identified by the on-field referee, were not evident in the footage presented to the VAR team when reviewing the incident. Attwell, would have been very uncomfortable with Simons action, feeling the contact on the back of Van Dijk's calf, with a level of force and speed, endangered the safety of his opponent and met the threshold for a possible red card.

As South Africa closed in on a record 73-0 victory in Cardiff, Etzebeth clashed with the Welsh back-rower Alex Mann, appearing to make contact with his opponent's left eye in a fracas involving several players from both sides. With two minutes left at the Principality Stadium, the 34-year-old was shown a permanent red card by the referee, Luc Ramos, after a review with the television match official, Eric Gauzins. You have a clear finger in the eyes, so for me, it's a permanent red card, Ramos said during the review.

Ronan O'Gara was sent off in last night's Top 14 defeat in Pau, the La Rochelle chief picking up a second yellow card during an astonishing 13-try clash that saw his out-half Antoine Hastoy ship the fastest red card in league history - 34 seconds.

It's a tough night. They are a very good, young, and fresh team. With one less player, it's easy to say the game becomes difficult. But they also did everything right with the ball: they took full advantage of the extra man and made it difficult for us both to get into their area and to defend,