Referee appears to nearly forget to show red card in ‘farcical’ Premier League drama

Gabriel Gudmundsson’s red card for Leeds United against Crystal Palace came in a frantic end to the first half.

The full-back was sent off by referee Thomas Bramall in stoppage time at Selhurst Park on Sunday.

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Gudmundsson was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Ismaila Sarr halted a Palace counter-attack.

However, the referee appeared to forget he had already cautioned the Swedish defender in the 26th minute.

At first, Bramall brandished a yellow card to the Leeds man after awarding a free-kick.

Gudmundsson protested the decision before the Palace players realised a red card had yet to be shown.

Sarr and Maxence Lacroix could be seen making the point to the referee as they gestured to show it was a second yellow card.

After a brief pause, Bramall went to his back pocket to show the red card.

The red card came after Dominic Calvert-Lewin had missed a penalty for the visitors, with their afternoon going from bad to worse.

talkSPORT verdict

Alex Crook was left stunned by the incident as he reacted live on talkSPORT.

Following the red card, he said: “I’d say it’s all gone a little bit farcical, to be quite honest. Dominic Calvert-Lewin has missed a penalty, and Leeds are now down to ten men.

“Gabriel Gudmundsson has just been shown a second yellow card. It was an innocuous-looking incident in the centre circle with Ismaila Sarr.

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“He probably was a tad late, the Leeds defender. The referee, Thomas Bramall, showed the yellow card, but it looked to me as if he didn’t realise that Gudmundsson had already been booked earlier in the half, and there was a big delay before the red card was shown.

“I’m not sure that Thomas Bramall would have shown the second yellow card, had he realised that Gudmundsson had already been booked.”

Meanwhile, Perry Groves added: “I think it’s one of those borderline ones where Gudmundsson doesn’t really need to go in for the ball, where Sarr’s trying to shield it and just spin away from him. Then he goes in.

“As Crooky said there, I think Thomas Bramall, if he’d have realised that he’d already given him a yellow card, he might have given him a warning, but he couldn’t wait to get the yellow card out straight away. Then, obviously, he has to send him off.”

The red card is the first of Gudmundsson’s senior club career.

He is now set to miss Leeds’ home clash with Brentford on Saturday, March 21 through suspension.

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Since joining the club in the summer, the 26-year-old has made 31 appearances across all competitions.

Those include all but one of their Premier League outings so far this term.