Marc Cucurella was shown a second yellow card after the final whistle of Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Brentford on Sunday on an eventful evening for the full-back.
The Spaniard opened the scoring on 43 minutes, with Nicolas Jackson adding a second before a late Bryan Mbeumo consolation for the Bees.
That 90th minute Mbeumo goal was not the end of the action, though, with Cucurella picking up the first of his two yellow cards for a foul on Fabio Carvalho in injury time.
Then after the final whistle there was a confrontation between players, with Cucurella and Brentford’s Kevin Schade exchanging words.
The Chelsea star then shoved the Brentford man and had to be pulled away by the assistant referee.
Referee Peter Bankes did not like what he saw from the Spain international and flashed a second yellow then a red in his direction.
It was an irritating end for Cucurella and Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca, but it was another good day overall for the Blues. The win sees Chelsea move within two points of league-leaders Liverpool, although the Reds have a game in hand.
Jackson spoke positively about the form he and his side are showing under their impressive manager.
‘Very big win. Not an easy game. They’re a difficult side to play against,’ said the 23-year-old. ‘It was difficult because they always play set-pieces. But we won. I’m very happy.
‘Listen to the manager, respect the plan and we did that. It was more difficult at the end because they wanted to score again.
‘We’re getting to know each other better. Last year is finished, now we’re concentrating on this year.
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‘I missed that one but I was thinking I’ll get another one and try to score to help the team win. I did exactly that. It’s all about getting more experience. I’m getting more confident.
‘We’re just trying to win every game and focus on the next one. I don’t look at the table.’
Maresca told BBC Sport: ‘We were in control of the game except the last 10 minutes where we concede. It’s normal. We created chances. We could have scored more. We deserved to win the game.’
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