Southampton’s Jannik Vestergaard gets Leicester red card overturned

Southampton successfully appealed against the red card Jannik Vestergaard picked up against Leicester City last weekend.

In Saints’ 1-1 draw with the Foxes, Vestergaard was sent off after just 10 minutes for what referee Robert Jones deemed to be denying Leicester’s Jamie Vardy a goal-scoring opportunity.

VAR backed up the decision, despite Vestergaard clearly playing the ball and his teammate’s subsequent protests.

However, the FA announced today that the red card had been rescinded by an independent regulatory commission, meaning the Dane will be available for the Liverpool game on Saturday night.

After Saints bravely fought for a point against Leicester, Ralph Hasenhuttl made it clear that he was unhappy with the decision made by Jones.

“The official explanation was denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity,” Hasenhuttl said. “The goalkeeper was near the ball, he could pick it up. I think he [Vardy] would never get this ball. This explanation is simply wrong.”

Hasenhuttl’s post-game statements made it clear that the club were going to appeal the sending off.

“Jon Moss has seen it, the VAR, and he says it’s a red card, although Vardy never had the ball,” he added. “The denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity is an argument that I cannot agree [with].”