Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti believes Lucas Digne may have been sent off against Southampton because of what happened in the Merseyside derby last weekend and has described the red card as a ‘joke’.
The French full-back was shown a straight red card for a clumsy challenge on Southampton’s Kyle Walker-Peters in the match the Saints won 2-0.
Digne was running behind the Southampton man and seemed to accidentally tread on his back leg, which looked bad on replays, but looked unlucky for the Everton player.
Ancelotti certainly didn’t agree with the referee’s decision and feels there may have been influencing factors that he considers unfair.
Richarlison was sent off against Liverpool last week for a very poor tackle on Thiago Alcantara, while Jordan Pickford avoided punishment but put in a dreadful challenge on Virgil van Dijk, which saw him badly injured.
The Italian manager thinks the referee’s decision on Sunday may have been influenced by those challenges, which he is furious about.
‘It was a joke – it was not intentional,’ Ancelotti told Sky Sports about the red card. ‘It was not violent conduct so they could’ve checked better.
‘Maybe all the rumours during the week against [Jordan] Pickford and against Richarlison affected the decision, and if it is like this, it’s not right. It’s not fair.
‘I think we’re going to appeal. It could be a yellow card but it wasn’t violent conduct and the red card was unfair.
‘It was not a bad challenge I saw – it was not intentional as he was running behind and he had a contact with the ankle of the opponent but he didn’t have the intention to use violent conduct, so it was not the right decision.’
‘It’s an accident,’ said Redknapp. ‘It’s a yellow card, get on with the game, there’s not one player that’s played football that can say “that’s a red card”.
‘I just disagree. I just don’t see that, I really hope that the authorities look at it and agree it’s not a red card.
‘That needs to be overturned, if we get to the stage where that’s a red card, the game’s officially gone.’
