Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has been sharing his thoughts on the two yellow card offences that ultimately earned Wolves midfielder Joao Moutinho a sending-off during the Old Gold’s recent 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa.
A late penalty from Anwar El Ghazi secured all three points for Dean Smith’s side with Moutinho and Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz both getting red cards.
Speaking exclusively to This Is Futbol, Halsey had this to say on Moutinho and Mike Dean’s decision to send the midfielder off.
He said: “I thought Moutinho deserved his first yellow card because it was a late challenge stopping a promising attack, so I don’t think he’s got any qualms whatsoever.
“For me, the second yellow card issued by Mike Dean, it wasn’t a yellow card offence. If there was any contact, it was a careless challenge. [With the] experience that Mike Dean has got, [he] should have managed that situation.
“It was not a second yellow-card offence.”
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With Moutinho picking up this red card, this means that he will now not be able to play in Wolves’ next league match against Chelsea in on Tuesday.
Listening to what Halsey had to say on Moutinho’s sending-off, it’s clear that the situation could have been avoided if Dean had handled the incident differently.
Given how Moutinho currently has a fairly disappointing season rating of 6.47/10 (as per WhoScored), this shows that he may not necessarily be a big miss for Wolves in their next game.
Either way, it would seem likely, in our view, that Nuno Espirito Santo would have preferred not to have had to deal with Moutinho’s rather avoidable absence ahead of Chelsea’s visit.