Digne took a whack at his opponent about 3 seconds and 15 yards before he actually got him. I am still baffled beyond all comprehension that anyone watches that play and thinks it was an accident solely because he put his arms in the air. You can debate whether or not he meant to foul him in that exact manner, but it's beyond any doubt that he meant to foul him and bring him down from behind. On Calvo, it's not a tactical foul gone wrong because the opponent is heading back toward his own goal. I think you've either got an action from a player who just lost the ball that is very, very dirty or something very, very lazy. Same result, but I think there's a tad more doubt on the intent of the act.
That's fair. Admittedly, I was watching a replay of the game on my tablet so only had a 7-inch screen. In any case, my point is that both the Digne red and the Calvo red are completely justified for endangering player safety. One of my biggest pet peeves is when I hear "intent" being used to justify a red or not. "Intent" really has nothing to do with the final decision. We don't judge intent, we judge actions. I wish commentators would understand that, but either they don't or (more likely) they understand but won't acknowledge it so they have a narrative to follow.
Appeal upheld lol. Just stop giving red cards IMO. If the league wants to referee the games, ********ing let them.
When I see a player put his arms in the air, to me that means "Ref, see, I have my arms up, that means I didn't foul him. Or at least I didn't mean to foul him. Or at the very least, I didn't mean to foul him as badly as you think I did. So you shouldn't give me that card you're about to give me." And I'm an Everton fan.....
Here's Brillant's take. I've unfortunately received the yellow card because I came in from the end line. I should have come in from the side line. In that case, I think that the Ref shouldn’t have given me the green light to come in, and .... he did it !!!— frederic Brillant (@BrillantFred13) October 30, 2020
I think Petrescue did mess up by waving at him, even if it was to tell him to stay put. If a player is behind in end line and wants in, best bet is to not acknowledge him at all until you are ready to wave him on. Anything in the middle like this causes confusion.
All soccer players do is run. Get them to run around the field to the 4th official and they can come in at the halfway line.