Gary Lineker insists Ezri Konsa didn’t deserve red card v West Ham
West Ham United finished their game with Aston Villa on Sunday with a man advantage after Ezri Konsa was sent off a few minutes after play restarted.
The Villa centre-back was initially handed a yellow card, but after a double VAR check, it was turned to a red as his challenge on Jarrod Bowen denied the Hammers a goalscoring opportunity.
Kortney Hause should have been sent off too after his elbow on Pablo Fornals, but he got lucky.
BBC Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker was not pleased with the call, insisting Hause, and not Konsa, should have been sent off.
He wrote on his personal Twitter account: “No, no, no. The ball is going wide.
“It’s not denying a clear goal scoring opportunity. Not a red.
“The forearm smash, you could argue was a red, but not that one.”
Trevor Sinclair did not agree, though, as he believes both Villa players should have been shown their marching orders.
The former West Ham star posted: “Should have been two red cards there.”
Debatable
West Ham surely enjoyed it better playing against 10-man Villa, but the hosts could have had both players sent off and Dean Smith would not have had a lot of complaints.
Hause clearly hurt Fornals after that rash challenge, and he should have walked also.
The referee had to make a decision, and he reckoned Konsa deserved the red more after he denied the visitors a chance to score.
Lineker does not believe that was a clear chance on goal, but the officials make the final calls, and not many will argue with them.
A Villa player had to be sent off, and it did not really matter who it was at the end of the day.
West Ham strolled comfortably to a 4-1 win at the end, but the Midlands outfit would argue they could have given them a run for their money if they had ended the game with 11 players.
They should have been more cautious if they did not want to see one of them sent off, and they cannot have a lot of complaints.
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