‘It’s the history of Ligue 1, big teams must be top’ – Brest react furiously to Pierre Lees-Melou’s red card | OneFootball

Pierre Lees-Melou (30) hopes his suspension for next weekend’s top-of-the-table clash will be overturned after the Stade Brestois midfielder was sent off in controversial circumstances against Olympique Lyonnais.

Brest fell to a last-gasp winner from their hosts in a thrilling 4-3 game full to the brim with talking points, not least the refereeing decisions that saw Lees-Melou and Nicolás Tagliafico (31) both sent off in a confrontation initiated by the Lyon defender.

Lees-Melou dropped to the floor after a heavy tackle, a reaction that the Lyon defender took exception to as he attempted to grab the Brest midfielder and pull him to his feet. Lees-Melou leapt up to confront Tagliafico leading to the referee providing both players with their second yellow of the evening.

‘My red card is a little bizarre’

The Brest man believes it’s a red card that should be overturned ahead of the match against AS Monaco. “The red? I hope it will be cancelled, right? I haven’t really seen the images again,” Lees-Melou said after the game as he spoke to Prime Video. “I think my only fault is that I get up a little quickly but I don’t exchange words, I don’t touch him.”

Later the midfielder had seen the replay and remained confused over the decision, “When I see the images again, I have the impression that my red card is a little bizarre.” An opinion supported by his manager, who called the decision “grotesque,” defending his player by stating that it was “human to get up but he did absolutely nothing. We’re not going to talk about the referees again but today was complicated.”

However, the club’s sports director, Grégory Lorenzi, had more to say on the matter. “We know very well that Brest may be disturbing [the league]… It’s the history of Ligue 1, the big teams must be at the top. We are the little ones, no one can stop me from thinking that and I don’t think I’m wrong. When we see the decisions, we question ourselves.”

GFFN | Nick Hartland