On the first weekend of Mail Sport’s ‘Stop Abusing Referees’ campaign, Brighton captain Lewis Dunk became the first Premier League player to be shown a straight red card for dissent since Mike Dean sent Lee Cattermole off in 2012.
Referee Anthony Taylor had initially booked Dunk for dissent when he complained about the decision to award Nottingham Forest a penalty after a lengthy VAR check. Just 12 seconds later, Dunk was given his marching orders for using personally abusive language towards Taylor.
A straight red for dissent results in a two-match ban and unless Brighton launch an appeal, Dunk will miss the games against Chelsea and Brentford.