Sunderland Appeal McCartney Red Card

23 March 2009 15:09
Sunderland will file an appeal against the red card shown to defender George McCartney in Sunday's 1-0 loss to Manchester City. McCartney was shown a straight red card by referee Steve Tanner in the 15th minute for "denying a goalscoring opportunity" after tugging the shoulder of Shaun Wright-Phillips on the edge of the area. However, replays suggested there was minimal contact while Wright-Phillips was not in full control of the ball. Tanner did not initially appear to see the incident, and only produced the red card after talking to his assistant Mo Matadar. After the game, Black Cats boss Ricky Sbragia called on Tanner to rescind the decision "There was some sort of contact but the goalkeeper had got the ball in his hands," he said. "The referee asked the linesman a question but there was no definitive answer. They ummed and ahhed a bit and came up with that. It was the pivotal moment." If the red card is upheld, McCartney faces a one-match ban that will rule him out of the trip to play his former club West Ham a week on Saturday. Aston Villa have also appealed against the red card shown to goalkeeper Brad Friedel in the 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Liverpool. Villa were already trailing 4-0 when Friedel was dismissed by Martin Atkinson for bringing down Fernando Torres inside the area after 65 minutes. However, the American argued he went for a 50-50 ball and had nowhere else to go after Torres got their first.

Source: Eurosport