‘Horrible’ - Pundits react to red card for Bristol City as Sheffield United player questioned

Courtney Sweetman-Kirk believes that George Tanner’s red card in Bristol City’s 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United on Tuesday night was a clear sending-off.

Tanner’s stoppage time challenge on James McAtee sparked a brawl between several players from either side, as Stephen Martin brandished red to the defender.

When asked on Sky Sports whether she would see a more straightforward red card this season, Sweetman-Kirk replied: “No I don’t think so. Obviously, there are all sorts of stuff in there; the force, the studs are up, the follow through, he gets nowhere near the ball and that’s why.

“When you see McAtee hobbling around he was really struggling but obviously the thing that Nigel Pearson will be thinking about is the earlier challenge that we saw from Norwood, as that, in my opinion, should’ve been a red card as well so it’s difficult.”

The Robins are already short on numbers in defence due to injuries and illnesses, so Tanner’s suspension will cause further headaches for Nigel Pearson in the coming games.

There was another challenge in the match that could’ve resulted in a dismissal. A second-half incident between Joe Williams and Oliver Norwood saw the Blades midfielder unpunished, but after further review, the 31-year-old was perhaps lucky to stay on the field.

Williams got to the ball first as Norwood came charging in with a high tackle that caught the Robins midfielder on the knee. Robson-Kanu gave his view on whether Norwood should’ve seen red: “100% he should’ve been sent off,” he said.

“That is a red card offence, but it happens so quickly because it’s not the first tackle it’s the second follow-through of his foot which obviously catches Williams and it’s a horrible tackle.

“The defender, in the end, is Egan who gets the yellow card and Ollie Norwood doesn’t actually pick up a card at all. But when you slow that down it is a horrendous challenge and he’s lucky to escape a yellow card let alone a red card.”