Fans work out Brighton’s Lewis Dunk called referee Anthony Taylor when being sent off for abuse

Fans work out Brighton’s Lewis Dunk called referee Anthony Taylor to get himself sent off for foul and abusive language at the City Ground.

Lewis Dunk received marching orders for personally abusive language as he becomes the first player to be sent off for abusing a referee while on the pitch during a match since Alan Smith for Newcastle United in 2008.

The incident itself saw Callum Hudson-Odoi goes down under Jack Hinshelwood’s challenge, with the referee Taylor missing that.

VAR told Taylor to look back at the incident on the monitor and the official subsequently gave a spot kick, which Morgan Gibbs-White scores from.

After awarding the penalty to Nottingham Forest, Taylor booked the Brighton captain Lewis Dunk for dissent, and then sent the defender off for continuing to make foul and abusive language.

Ref Watch’s Dermot Gallagher said via Sky Sports that Lewis Dunk was deserving of the red card after his abusive language towards referee Anthony Taylor.

“He knows he’s out of order” 🤬

Dermot Gallagher discusses Lewis Dunk’s red card for abusive and insulting language against Nottingham Forest 🟥 pic.twitter.com/AJkj87yYlO

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) November 27, 2023

“He’s just called me a fucking bellend” 🤣🤣 #BHAFC pic.twitter.com/Z3QJPzDt6b

— Josh Barber (@GingersFinest) November 26, 2023

Dermot said: “He was not dismissed for dissent, he was yellow-carded for dissent, he was dismissed for insulting and abusive language.

“People say, “can you swear at a referee?” You should not, as that is the safest option, but it is not always what you say, it is how you say it. It is the inference.

“And without saying what he said, I would not want to call you that on a Monday morning! And if I did, I would not be standing here the following Monday, I can assure you.

“So, I think he has gone a little bit too far, he is upset and frustrated as a result of the penalty being given, but for whatever reason, in that short space of time, he has lost control of himself and almost as soon as he said it, he has regretted it as he puts his hand out to the referee as if to say, “I’m really, really sorry”. He knows he should not have said it, but he did.”

Confirmation in from FA that Lewis Dunk will only miss Brighton’s next two matches in the PL, not three, for his straight red. Misses Chelsea and Brentford but back in time for Burnley on December 9

— Kieran Gill (@kierangill_DM) November 27, 2023

IT’S ALL HAPPENING!

Lewis Dunk is SENT OFF and Nottingham Forest SCORE from the penalty spot! 🔴 pic.twitter.com/dHlewHBZmC

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 25, 2023

Mike Dean meanwhile says he supports Anthony Taylor’s decision to send off Lewis Dunk for dissent.

In his column for the Daily Mail, he wrote: “Premier League players cannot say they weren’t warned.

“The lack of respect shown towards referees had been in the news all week, as Mail Sport set the agenda with their campaign against abuse.

‘Lewis Dunk and his colleagues should have anticipated a no-nonsense approach heading into the weekend’s return of the Premier League. But the Brighton defender clearly crossed the line with Anthony Taylor on Saturday.

“You could see the change in Taylor’s facial expression when Dunk was barking in his ear. Dunk tried to offer an apologetic handshake but the damage was already done, to the extent that Taylor decided a second yellow was not enough. He showed a straight red instead.

“I’m totally in favour of a hardline approach being taken by our referees. Enough X-rated abuse is aimed at us from the outside world. It shouldn’t be coming from the players on the pitch, too. Debates over decisions are fine. Derogatory insults are not and Taylor, one of the game’s best officials, demonstrated enough is enough when he reached for his top pocket.

“I was told on Sunday that I was the last Premier League referee to show a red for dissent — to Lee Cattermole in March 2012. Sunderland had just drawn 1-1 at Newcastle. It was a bad-tempered derby and one which saw Shola Amoeba score the equaliser in stoppage time.

“After blowing the full-time whistle, Cattermole bombarded me with insults, none of which I could repeat in a family newspaper. It pushed me to the point where I decided showing red was right, not realising it might take more than a decade for the next one to be produced.

“In truth, I don’t miss refereeing, and the aggro you receive as that supposedly wicked man in black is a big reason why.

‘Premier League players should prepare for firmness from referees for the foreseeable. The PGMOL want to crack down on this behaviour and rightly so, because it feels like the abuse has only worsened as players have forgotten their boundaries.

“Something had to change and Taylor led the way this weekend.”

As mentioned, fans work out Brighton’s Lewis Dunk called referee Anthony Taylor to get himself sent off …

@GingersFinest: “He’s just called me a fucking bellend” 🤣🤣 #BHAFC

@ElliotGCFC: My respect for Dunk just went up exponentially

@nffckez: Potentially the most worthwhile red card ever, Anthony Taylor, you are in fact a bellend.

@ChrisMacfie: Any player who gives Anthony Taylor abuse is a hero in my eyes, genuinely the worst ref in the league him

@ianmarcsimpson: Red carded for telling the truth, the game’s gone!

@staceybell0511: Games gone 😂

@Jak_Winter: How can you be sent off, for speaking the truth?

@louis_soper: Lewis dunk for England captain immediately

@JackJEFC01: Well Lewis Dunk wasn’t wrong…

@wolvesbradders: He’s not wrong though! Just surprised more players haven’t said it to his face.

@_connor_01:
Brighton 🤝 wolves
Being fucked over by var since day one

@StevenCross81: Knight Lewis Dunk now 😂😂