An old friend grabbed the headlines this weekend as three red cards were handed out, while the Tightrope also welcomed a trio of new recruits to the rarefied atmosphere of their fourth yellow card.
No stranger to these pages (he even gets a mention in the first ever article in this series), Lee Cattermole racked up his eighth career red card on Saturday. The midfielder earned his fifth dismissal in just 88 games as a Sunderland player for a late and clumsy lunge on Hull City’s Ahmed Elmohamady – the Black Cats will now be without the combative ball-winner for the next three games as he sits out the midweek Capital One Cup tie against Southampton and upcoming league games against Manchester City and Stoke. Gus Poyet may turn to Craig Gardner as a replacement, though with four reds and 25 yellows in his last 83 league games he’s no stranger to a card or two either.
Joining Cattermole on the sidelines for the same three games will be his left-back colleague Andrea Dossena. Less than five minutes after the midfielder was sent packing, Dossena lost the ball and saw fit to recklessly jump into a tackle with David Meyler that left the former Sunderland man prostrate. The crimson flash duly followed, leaving Sunderland with a mountain to climb and some holes to fill until both men return for the Gameweek13 clash with Aston Villa.
Also of note in Sunderland’s nine-man loss to Hull – and highlighted post-match by a seething Gus Poyet – was a mis-timed, two footed, and off-the-ground challenge by the recently returned Robbie Brady late in the game. The referee, Andre Marriner, decided it merited only a yellow card, meaning it’s very unlikely Brady will see further action from the FA upon review of the incident.
Less likely to be reprieved is Fulham’s ever-present Sascha Riether, as his clear stamp on Adnan Januzaj during their loss to Manchester United went unpunished at the time. The right-back will now be subject to the full wrath of the suits at Soho Square – a three- match ban looks entirely likely for the German as we await more news.
Completion of the ban action this weekend came in the South Wales derby, with Swansea goalkeeper Michel Vorm given his marching orders for felling Frazier Campbell as he bore down on goal late in the game. For denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity, Vorm will sit out just a single game for the Jacks who will need to call on the services of Gerhard Tremmel for the visit of Stoke. Vorm will presumably now play away in Europe on Thursday and then return to league action in Gameweek 12 at Fulham.
On to the tightrope now, and a busy weekend saw midfielders Antonio Valencia, Jon Walters and Paulinho all climb aboard the high wire to test their balancing skills. Eight players are all vying to follow Lucas Leiva in picking up a single match ban – Valencia now has cards in his last two league appearances, while Paulinho goes one better with three cards in three league games. He now takes pole position as he faces up to Newcastle next weekend.
