Brighton and Hove Albion have revealed their appeal against the red card shown to defender Pascal Struijk during their 2-0 win at Sunderland has been successful.
The Seagulls were a goal to the good at the Stadium of Light when the former Leeds United centre-back was shown a straight red card just before the hour-mark after bringing down Wilson Isidor as the Black Cats forward looked to break in behind the visitors defence. Referee Thomas Bramall and his assistants failed to award a free-kick in the initial aftermath of the incident – but were instructed to review the challenge by VAR official Neil Davies.
After assessing several replays, Bramall showed Struijk a straight red card for denial of a goalscoring opportunity in a decision that Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler described as ‘harsh’ and he insisted the initial call was ‘not a clear false decision’.
Speaking after the win, the Seagulls boss said: “I was very pleased because we won the 30 minutes, and it was very important for us. We defended as a team, everyone understood, now we have to defend, we have to be brilliant at the basics, we have to defend given goals, we have to defend crosses, we have to defend the box well, and that’s really positive. Regarding the red card, I haven’t seen it back yet so the only thing I can say is that we had so many meetings before the season where we got educated that the VAR only comes into the game when it’s a clear wrong decision, and I think no-one in the stadium saw a clear wrong decision.”
Brighton revealed they had appealed Struijk’s dismissal and Wednesday morning brought confirmation the appeal had been successful and that means the defender will now be available for his side’s home game with Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon.
A statement released via the club’s social media outlets read: “Following a successful claim of wrongful dismissal, the red card given against Pascal Struijk at Sunderland has been rescinded and he will now be available for selection against Crystal Palace.”
Be the first to comment