Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has been discussing Matheus Pereira following his sending-off during the game against Crystal Palace.
Slaven Bilic’s side were on the end of a 5-1 defeat at the hands of Roy Hodgson’s Palace and the Brazilian midfielder was controversially dismissed during the first half, an incident that ‘altered the complexion‘ of the game.
Speaking exclusively to This is Futbol on the subject of the Pereira red card, the 59-year-old urged West Brom to appeal the decision as it was not violent conduct. He said:
“If I was West Brom, I would appeal that sending-off because, for me, it wasn’t violent conduct. Yes, you would accept a caution for reckless play, but it’s not violent conduct.”
We’ll never know whether the side would have been able to achieve a better result had Pereira not been sent off, but in our view, the former referee is right to point out that the Midlands-based club can feel hard done by.
Their heavy defeat may suggest they may have succumbed to Palace even without Pereira’s early bath, but having got themselves back into the game following Conor Gallagher’s equaliser to Darnell Furlong’s own goal, it could certainly be argued that the decision – just four minutes after the Baggies’ goal – changed the pattern of the game dramatically as the Eagles took control in the second half, with doubles from Wilfried Zaha and Christian Benteke brutally adding further punishment to the decision from referee Paul Tierney.
Should Matheus Pereira have been sent off?
Yes
No
Having earned promotion back to the Premier League last season, West Brom have managed to pick up just six points from their opening 11 fixtures and as a result, find themselves in 19th place (as per BBC Sport).