Sending off Heung-min Son ‘a travesty’, claims Garth Crooks

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Former Tottenham Hotspur forward Garth Crooks has shared his opinion on Heung-min Son’s red card against Everton last night. 

Son was initially booked for a challenge on Andre Gomes which unfortunately led to a horrific leg break for the Portuguese midfielder. However, after the extent of the injury became apparent, Son was sent off thanks to VAR. 

It was a baffling decision, as the challenge itself was probably a yellow card offense. Crooks believes so, as he wrote in his BBC Sport column, but also suggested that a visibly distraught Son would not have been able to play on. 

“To send Son off was, in my view, a travesty. The South Korean forward did nothing wrong.

“In view of Son’s reaction to the incident, it was clear the player could not continue. In such circumstances the decent thing was for referee Martin Atkinson to ask Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino to substitute the player.

“To send a player off when a tackle is reckless or out of control is one thing, but to do so only to compensate for a serious injury is not where the game should be heading.”

TBR’s View

There is absolutely no chance that Son would have been able to play on. The South Korean was immediately taken aback by the damage his challenge had caused for a fellow professional. 

But Crooks is right that the tackle was not a red card offence. It was a horrible incident and undoubtedly regrettable that Gomes suffered such a catastrophic injury but the red card was given as a result of the injury, not the actual challenge. 

Even most Everton fans would have to admit that is the case and Tottenham were very unfortunate to have ended the game with ten men.