Dom. Stupid. Stupid. And only then the red cards that fell in the game between Anderlecht and Antwerp. First Calvin Stengs after a frustrated slap in the face from Diawara, then Benito Raman who forgot he was already nervous.
No discussion of Calvin Stengs red card. Okay, Diawara didn’t need to impede the Dutchman, but the subsequent slamming move was entirely unnecessary. Frustration everywhere, and that at a time when Antwerp were dominant and seemed on the way to 0-1. After the final whistle, Stengs immediately apologized to his teammates. “He was frustrated after an earlier tap,” admitted Jean Butez. “We’re a team and we’re all behind him.” Jürgen Ekkelenkamp also admitted that this wasn’t his compatriot’s smartest move. “We’ve been there with a lot of injuries so the suspension isn’t good. It wasn’t a very smart move. He must not be provoked. Calvin has apologized to the group now we have to move on with the players that are there. I hope he comes back soon.”
I’m disappointed because we didn’t take advantage of being able to play with a man more.
Anderlecht got the upper hand 11 against 10, but then Raman showed up with Pacho’s shirt fifteen minutes to go. Yellow was logical, but that led to red for the attacker. After that previous red card, he had received a yellow card himself after shoving Stengs and had forgotten about that for a while. He fell to his knees in disbelief. “If you can play 11 against 10, that changes a lot,” said captain Jan Vertonghen afterwards. “Benito himself knows well enough what he did, as captain I no longer have to tell him that. That changes the game, but in the end he also played well.”
“I’m disappointed because we didn’t take advantage of being able to play with one man more,” sighed coach Brian Riemer. “I checked the phases and I think the first yellow card was very severe. Honestly, I don’t understand why he turned yellow there. That second card is very stupid from Benito, he didn’t know that he had already received a yellow card. That can happen in football because of the intensity and the adrenaline, but of course we have to avoid that.”
Source : HLN