The Fulham boss reiterated that his skipper had no malicious intentions while tackling http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lee-Cattermole-c21868 and that a red card should not have been awarded.
Craven Cottage witnessed a one-sided affair as Sunderland ran out eventual 3-1 winners over the home side in the Premier League.
Goals from Steven Fletcher, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Carlos-c8346 Javier Cuéllar were enough to seal the win for Martin O’Neill’s men, while there was also controversy in the game, as the referee elected to give Brede Hangeland his marching orders for a rough challenge
on Black Cats’ captain Lee Cattermole.
The Norwegian tried to slide the ball from Cattermole on 31 minutes, but the official judged it to be a breach of the rules and had him expelled from the field with the game still tied at 0-0.
Taking advantage of their numerical superiority, O’Neill’s troops were able to secure the win and eventually ran out comfortable winners at the expense of their London rivals.
While Fulham’s Martin Jol was livid over his side’s performance at home, he was more frustrated by the red card showed to Hangeland, as he believed that the punishment was too severe for the centre-back.
Speaking to reporters, the former Ajax coach claimed that the defender showed no intent of harming Cattermole during the tackle and that later the player confessed that he slipped before putting in the challenge.
"I think he was probably the only one in the stadium who really thought it was a red card. It would have been nice if most of the referees had played football themselves, it would be nice if sometimes they could make decisions in the spirit of the game.”
Continuing, he added that Hangeland, himself, was a very sensible person and would have never got into double-footed lunge with intent.
"I can't remember having a red card at this club, he (Hangeland) is a nice boy and told me it was not intentional, he slipped. I won't say that it is a common thing for him because I haven't seen him do this tackle,” Jol was quoted as saying while speaking
to the media after the game.
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