Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, QPR, and Everton players feature in our list.
Some red cards are more costly than others, and with many, their true value is not realised until events which happen later transpire. Here are seven sendings off which have had negative effects on the teams or players themselves.
Jonny Evans
Manchester United were already trailing 1-0 to rivals Manchester City when Jonny Evans was sent off, and his last man challenge on Mario Balotelli left the referee with no option. Evans could not have predicted his teammates would fall apart as dramatically as they did, with City’s David Silva cutting United to ribbons late on as they pushed to get back into the game. City won a memorable contest 6-1, a scoreline which surely would never have been so skewed had United kept 11 men on the field.
Djibril Cisse
The repercussions of Djibril Cisse’s second sending off in QPR colours are yet to be fully felt. Up until then, QPR were on a high, having defeated Liverpool one game earlier, and Cisse himself had two goals in as many games. His needless lunge in Saturday’s 3-1 away loss to Sunderland earned a red card and incurred the wrath of owner Tony Fernandes. He will now miss four games through suspension, which will hamper the club’s efforts to avoid relegation.
Jose Bosingwa
Bosingwa was sent off early in Chelsea’s visit to QPR for knocking over Shaun Wright-Phillips. Chelsea lost the game 1-0, with Didier Drogba also later red-carded, but by that point, the team had already lost their shape through Bosingwa’s sending off. Who knows, had Chelsea not been down to nine men, the players on the pitch may not have been so hot-headed, and the argument which led to John Terry being accused of racial abuse may never have happened.
Fernando Torres
Fernando Torres’ red card at home to Swansea was mainly costly from a personal point of view. He had looked to be rediscovering his form, scoring against Manchester United a week earlier, and netting early against the Swans at Stamford Bridge. Then on 38 minutes he was needlessly sent off for an over-zealous challenge, which put him back to square one. He served a three match ban and has not scored a league goal since. The match was in September.
Scott Parker
Scott Parker’s late sending off against Arsenal was terrible news for Tottenham. They put up a real good fight against Manchester United the following weekend, but United just about held them off and hit them on the counter to win 3-1. If Parker had been available, perhaps Spurs would have claimed a draw or even sprung a win. Perhaps not. But if they had avoided a loss, it would have halted their losing streak, and prevented Arsenal from closing the gap so suddenly.
Johan Djourou
Arsenal were 1-0 up at Craven Cottage when Johan Djourou was sent off. He received a red card in the 77th minute for bringing down Bobby Zamora, which led to Arsenal’s collapse. Steve Sidwell scored and equaliser five minutes later before Zamora netted a stoppage time winner to rub salt in the wound. The result set Arsenal on a month of terrible league results in January, and Djourou – one the club’s only available full-backs at the time- missed the game with Swansea through suspension, which Arsenal lost 3-2.
Jack Rodwell
Almost everybody watching the Merseyside derby last Autumn agreed Jack Rodwell should not have been sent off for a challenge of Luis Suarez, except for referee Martin Atkinson. It ruined the contest, with Everton unable to fight off Liverpool’s gameplan with 10 men. Carroll and Suarez scored the goals in a 2-0 win late in the second half, after the Toffees had played the majority of the match a man down.
Which other sendings-off should feature on our list?
image: © Ronnie Macdonald
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