Ben Pearson goes viral after being sent off in comical fashion during Stoke’s loss to West Brom with footage of the incident trending.
Pearson, a regular for Alex Neil’s men, will be forced to sit out of Tuesday night’s home game with Wigan Athletic, after receiving a red card at the weekend.
Referee Andy Woolmer, who had already given him a booking shortly before, gave him his marching order as Stoke fell to defeat in the Championship.
Pearson was shown his second yellow card after he twice threw the football towards Darnell Furlong who was waiting for a throw in. It was what he said that made the referee’s decision.
Furlong, rather than trying to catch the ball, allowed it to hit him both times and gave quite a reaction. Woolmer sent a frustrated Pearson down the tunnel.
Is this one of the silliest second yellow/red cards you’ve seen? 🙈#ITVFootball | #EFL pic.twitter.com/JtJPk5m07q
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) April 17, 2023
As can be heard in the video, the reporter says: “For Stoke, the frustration eventually boiled over. In stoppage time, Ben Pearson was reprimanded for this strange interaction with Darnell Furlong, the Albion player not appreciating Pearson’s attempts at playing ballboy.
“Were still, something said to Referee Wilmer afterwards resulted in a second yellow card for Pearson. Stoke City’s frustration was complete.”
The Baggies kept their playoff hopes alive thanks to Jayson Molumby’s double after Jacob Brown handed the hosts the lead when he headed home an accurate Morgan Fox cross on the half-hour mark.
Stoke’s Alex Neil went on: “The referee’s performance is as poor as I’ve seen at senior level. The way to gauge a referee’s performance is if you don’t really notice them, they’ve had a pretty good game. Today, he was like a pantomime villain for both teams, particularly for us and you could see that boil over.
“Our players played with anger and frustration due to some of the decisions as they felt they were hard done by. They didn’t play with a freedom or a focus on the game that they should have had, and that affected some of the performances. Getting Ben [Pearson] sent off is stupid for him and disappointing for us, but you can understand his frustration. If the referee got control of the game, I don’t think anybody would have any complaints. There was a lot of frustration and anger. It was a frustrating day, in more ways than one.”
West Brom’s Carlos Corberan: “I am very proud of the mentality that the players showed today. When you are suffering; you either give up or you face up and overcome, and that’s what we did today. We showed the character that was necessary to win the three points. The difference between the first and second half was the determination; in the second half, we played with a lot of heart and put that on the pitch.
“The goals were goals of desire, passion and mentality and this is what we are and what we can do. These are the most important goals that we’ve scored so far this season. This win means a lot because we stop our momentum, that wasn’t the best one, and we showed a lot of character to face that adversity. We wanted to celebrate with the fans; they gave us a lot of support and it means a lot.”
This is what fans said as Ben Pearson goes viral after being sent off in comical fashion during Stoke’s loss to West Brom…
@WazzaMayes: You can’t not deal with time wasting as a referee then expect the players not to get frustrated. He didn’t launch it at him either time anyway. Ridiculous 🙄
@ElyJoseph63: He got yellow carded for calling the ref a thundercunt and the other yellow was for a 50/50 I think he was right about the ref
@GarethEarnshaw1: Poor refereeing for me, like so many that are unwilling to get a grip with time wasting. If the players said something to the ref, it’s from frustration from not doing his job.
@mbmcm88: The referees in this great nation of ours are an absolute disgrace
@TomRenshaw1: Andy Woolmer. One of the silliest referees I’ve seen.
@Alan_Oliver: The reaction from the player ‘hit’ by the ball is so embarrassing it’s beyond explanation!!
@KieronPearce: nothing wrong with it. not even a yellow
@bayernoatcake2: The player was timewasting and Pearson was trying to give him the ball. He apparently called the ref a thundercunt though. A great booking as the ref was a massive thundercunt as the video shows.
@charliescfc_: should never referee again, simple
@ms_th19: Just me or is there nothing wrong with it? Lad in yellow is time wasting
@Tays85: That ref has done us in league two this season . Absolute jobs worth
@AlkiniLeesinho: If anything, the West Brom player should be booked for time wasting
@bryanpottsjnr: WBA player hasn’t helped
@thehouseelf: Whatever happened to management?
@bengary_ben: I’d have booked the guy failing to take the throwin
@GW7201: Welcome to modern day football
@OliWAFC: incompetent refs in the efl imagine my shock
@brandonhilton_: Ref just allowed time wasting all game, needs sacking
@hackabusi: Pathetic refereeing is what it is …
@ricohjam: I hope Furlong is ok. Best wishes to him at this difficult time. Looks like that first one must have really hurt him.
@HujaWang: I love how the first one REALLY hurt him, he bent over in pain but the second didn’t 🙄
@baggieboy_79: How much crap have we all seen from Stoke over the years. We got the 3 points so we simply don’t care.
@ChrisDaplyn: Pathetic from the Baggies player, and the ref fell for it every single time 🤦♂️
@tdog1410: Hope furlong is ok and he’s able to play again after the ball hit him #prayforfurling @DarnellFurlong play acting
@PaulWebster83: More embarrassing for Furlong.
@BaggieForLife: When you’re struggling and the fans have paid good money to watch you and the odds are against you you either dig-in, and play for the badge or you turn into a complete useless tosser & get sent off.
@Coshooooo: Mental getting a yellow card for trying to play football rather than waste time and not play football 😐
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