Casemiro received the first straight red card of his career after a moment of madness during Saturday afternoon's fiery clash between Manchester United and Crystal Palace.
The Brazilian midfielder, 30, was given his marching orders in the 70th minute at Old Trafford after putting his hand around Will Hughes' throat during a 20-player brawl. The incident occurred after Jeffrey Schlupp flew in on Antony, prompting players from both sides to pile into a major scuffle.
Referee Andre Marriner struggled to split up the warring teams and subsequently showed yellow cards to Antony and Schlupp. A lengthy VAR check then ensued, resulting in Casemiro being shown a straight red card, ruling him out of United's next three games in what is a major blow for Erik ten Hag.
Remarkably, that was the first time the decorated veteran had been shown a straight red in his career, having also represented boyhood club Sao Paulo, Real Madrid, Real Madrid Castilla - Los Blancos' reserve team - and Porto. Casemiro has racked up over 600 appearances for club and country and won five Champions League titles while at the Santiago Bernabeu, so it came as some surprise for fans to learn he had never been dismissed with a single booking in his career.
The incident came seconds after in-form Marcus Rashford turned in Luke Shaw's cross to double United's lead, following Bruno Fernandes' opener from the penalty spot in the first half. Patrick Vieira responded to the red card by taking off Hughes and Palace threw the kitchen sink at United in a bid to salvage something from the match.
Schlupp, who was at the centre of the controversy moments earlier, pulled one back for Palace after the Red Devils failed to clear a corner, but United held on to leave Old Trafford with all three points.
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The result saw the Red Devils leapfrog Newcastle into third place ahead of the Magpies' fixture against West Ham on Saturday evening, continuing their brilliant season with Ten Hag at the helm. Palace, meanwhile, are languishing in mid-table but other results went their way in their pursuit of a top-half finish. Liverpool were thrashed 3-0 at Wolves and Aston Villa were beaten 4-2 by Midlands rivals Leicester in a thrilling top-flight encounter.
Meanwhile, Ten Hag will be left wondering how to fill the void Casemiro will leave in his midfield in United's fixtures over the coming weeks. The Red Devils face old rivals Leeds home and away before hosting Leicester as they aim to maintain their status as contenders to win a first Premier League title since the 2012/13 season under Sir Alex Ferguson.
