Cesc Fabregas was shown a straight red card after just 30 minutes of Monaco’s first game of the season against Lyon on Friday night.
Les Rouges et Blancs were already 1-0 down just five minutes into their Ligue 1 opener, but things went from bad to worse on the half hour mark.
The Spaniard was initially shown yellow for a challenge on right-back Leo Dubois as he pursued the ball in his opponent’s half.
However replays showed Fabregas‘ tackle was worse than first thought as he stamped on the back of Dubois’ leg.
The ex-Chelsea and Arsenal man protested his innocence and replays appeared to show that the incident may have been unintentional as he was looking away at the time of impact.
Regardless, the decision stood and Fabregas was given his marching orders.
The midfielder joined the French league side in January after falling out of favour at Chelsea.
