Arsenal legend Martin Keown and former Everton midfielder Kevin Kilbane have jumped to the defence of Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min.
The South Korea international was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Andre Gomes which left the Toffees midfielder with a fractured dislocation to his right ankle and will have surgery today.
A statement regarding the injury has been issued by the Everton Twitter account.
Whilst Son - who was visibly shaken up by the incident - will have to bear responsibility for what was a freak accident, the debate following the game is over whether he deserved to be given his marching orders.
Two people who felt the red card was harsh were Keown and Kilbane.
"I don’t agree with the red card, I don’t think he should’ve been given a red card," Kilbane said on Match of the Day 2. "Martin Atkinson’s initial instinct was a yellow card and I think that was the correct decision.
"It came after the trip from Son. You could see how affected he was from the injury.
"That statement says that any challenge made on the pitch, if a player slips on the back of it and gets a serious injury, that will be a red card and I don’t agree with that. We all know what can happen when you step onto a pitch.
"Take nothing away from the incident, it’s a horrific incident but that is not a red card."
"I understand why Martin Atkinson gave a red card but I don’t think it was called for," Keown said.
"It was one of those freak accidents, it really was, once you see it in its entirety."
"Any challenge can have a consequence, any challenge, whether it’s a shoulder charge or anything," Kilbane added. "When someone goes to ground, that comes with a risk, we all know that.
"I can't agree with that or the wording of that statement because it basically says every time you make a foul it's a red. Is that what we're looking at?
"We've all seen it where you've tripped someone and they slip and if they go down in an unfortunate way and get a serious injury. That can’t be right, no."
