In one of the strangest red card ever received in a Premier League match, Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Raul Jimenez was sent off after he received two yellow cards in a matter of seconds against Manchester City on Saturday.
The Mexican forward was initially booked for fouling City midfielder Rodri in the centre circle in first half stoppage time, before then stopping the Spain international taking the resulting free-kick.
Referee Jon Moss had no other option but to book Jimenez again for blocking the restart of play and the player then trudged off the field slowly as jeers rained in on him by the City supporters.
Increíble la expulsión de Raúl Jiménez. La secuencia de su expulsión no tiene desperdicio, jaja pic.twitter.com/fkC4TKVQiC
— Fútbol Vertical (@futbol_vertical) December 11, 2021
1. Gave away a foul 🟨
2. Stopped the free kick being taken 🟨Raul Jimenez got sent off for two yellow cards in 48 seconds 😳 pic.twitter.com/IPCQ49EIPg
— B/R Football (@brfootball) December 11, 2021
The incident came at the end of a frantic period of play at the Etihad, where Ruben Dias and Rodri were both booked in the minutes leading up to Jimenez’s moment of madness. Wolves player Ruben Neves also received a booking afterwards. Jimenez was visibly unhappy at referee’s decision to brandish a yellow card and just 48 seconds later he was heading down the tunnel.
Wolves had held Pep Guardiola’s league leaders at bay as they headed into the break with the game goalless but now face an uphill task to keep them out for the second period with just 10 men.
City are looking to extend their lead at the top of the table and they currently sit one point above title rivals Liverpool – who beat Wolves 1-0 at Molineux last weekend.
Jimenez – who has returned from a serious head injury this season – came into the game with Wolves boss Bruno Lage telling the media that he was good enough to play for City.