🔬 The Debrief as red cards cause chaos in the Premier League | OneFootball

Red cards proved a particular talking point on Saturday in the Premier League.

We look back on a dramatic day of action.

What happened?

Manchester City won against Nottingham Forest thanks to goals from Phil Foden and Erling Haaland (his 60th in 62 City games) but a red card for Rodri could prove costly (more on that to come).

An equally silly sending off for Jean-Ricner Bellegarde did ultimately harm Wolves on the day and opened the door for Luton to collect their first ever Premier League point in a 1-1 draw.

Everton picked up their first win of the season with an impressive 3-1 win at Brentford, while Crystal Palace and Fulham played out a drab goal-less London derby draw.

Player of the Day

James Tarkowski was not only a rock at the back for Everton with an assured and comfortable showing, he was the main man at the other end too.

Against his former club, he picked up a goal and assist in the same game for the first time in his Premier League career.

Key Detail

Rodri played a sublime pass in Manchester City’s 46-pass move which led to their opener against Nottingham Forest (the second longest sequence for a Premier League goal since Opta began collecting data in 2006) and then it all went wrong.

Again since such data was collected, he then went on to pick up the quickest red card following the restart of a game for the second half (27 seconds after the whistle was blown) with an ill-advised choke on Morgan Gibbs-White – which has landed him with a suspension that will see him miss the crunch trip to Arsenal.

Stat of the Match

Dominic Calvert-Lewin has waited a long time to score on the road in the Premier League.

Outside of penalties, this was his first goal away from Goodison Park since netting at West Ham all the way back in May 2021!

What this means

Manchester City remain top of the table, while Luton also stay bottom, although they have at least picked up their first Premier League point at the fifth time of asking.

Everton are out of the relegation zone as a result of their big win but there is little change for the rest.

What they said

Pep Guardiola: “Hopefully Rodri will learn. He has to control himself and his emotions. I can get a yellow card but I don’t play, he can’t do it. He’s apologised to his team-mates.”

Roy Hodgson: “I feel so sorry for the referees. They feel obliged to follow through these new directives which don’t make a lot of sense. Little things annoy you. Why can’t somebody from the bench stand by me for 30 seconds to shout instructions before being told immediately to go back to the bench? Where’s the problem? How does football benefit from that?”

What comes next?

A packed Sunday of action, with five games on the slate!

The headline act is undoubtedly the north London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham.

Liverpool-West Ham promises to be tasty too, while Brighton and Aston Villa look to bounce back from their European defeats against Bournemouth and Chelsea respectively, before Newcastle travel to Sheffield United in the late kick-off.