A goal, a red card, & a fine: Arsenal loanee’s dramatic day | OneFootball

Nuno Tavares is set to receive a fine and a suspension with Marseille, despite helping them to a win with a goal away to Montpellier on Monday.

Arsenal loanee Nuno Tavares seemed to be making a positive impression midway through Marseille’s match against Montpellier on Monday, opening the scoring with a nicely-taken goal.

In the 47th minute, Tavares picked the ball up in the box from a goalkeeping rebound. He shaped to shoot first time on his left, before feinting and firing in with his right.

Marseille doubled their lead in the 61st minute, and they seemed to be heading for a comfortable victory. Then everything went wrong.

After losing the ball in the opposition penalty area, Tavares kicked out at Arnaud Souquet. He then shoved Christopher Jullien in the ensuing brawl.

The referee showed Tavares a yellow for the kick and a yellow for the shove, sending him off for two bookings. But on VAR review, the first yellow was upgraded to a straight red card for violent conduct.

As Tavares left the field, he was being goaded by the home support, and he responded by signing “2-0” with his fingers.

Fortunately for Tavares, Marseille only conceded once in the final few minutes, and they managed to hold on for the win.

But the 22-year-old will now serve a suspension, and his manager says he’ll also receive a fine for the gesture towards the fans.

“He’s lost his mind, he’s going to get a nice fine,” Igor Tudor said. “It can happen, but he’s going to be fined, because [this sort of action] will penalise us in the future. We are lucky it went well at the end.”

It’s not yet clear how long Tavares will miss through suspension, as Ligue 1 doesn’t automatically apply suspensions as the Premier League does. Instead, they’re confirmed on a case-by-case basis.

Usually, you’d expect a red card for violent conduct to mean a couple of games out. That would mean Tavares missing the games against Troyes and Lorient before returning against Monaco.