Sky Sports pundits Paul Merson and Michael Dawson were in disagreement over Casemiro's red card against Southampton, with the former believing he was unfortunate.
Casemiro was shown a second straight red card of the season after a reckless challenge saw him catch Southampton's Carlos Alcaraz in last weekend's 0-0 draw. The Brazilian lunged in on the Saints forward in trying to win possession, his outstretched leg rolling over the ball and into the Argentinian's shin.
A VAR check deemed the challenge sufficient for a straight red and Casemiro was handed a four-game ban for the dismissal, meaning he misses Sunday's FA Cup clash against Fulham as well as league meetings with Newcastle, Brentford and Everton. But looking back on the incident, Merson believes the midfielder was unfortunate.
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“Sometimes you’ve got to use common sense. Casemiro’s one, it’s a wet pitch, his foot has rolled over the ball," Merson told Sky Sports. "He hasn’t missed it. You can’t help that. Any other day his studs are bang on the ball and he carries on and it will be alright."
Former defender Dawson wasn't so sympathetic: "But if he breaks his leg with the Alcaraz one..."
To which Merson quickly replied: "But he didn't..."
Dawson responded: "I know he didn't Merse. But I just think that's a red card, that's my view."
Merson, however, wouldn't budge: "That's like saying there's a train strike and the fans couldn't get there so we couldn't play. I just think it's common sense. He doesn't go over the ball, I've seen tackles where they miss the ball and they go and you then say 'ah come on.'
"Everything you can see afterwards shows he didn't mean it."
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