Julen Lopetegui has hit out at referee Jarred Gillett for his decision to send off Mario Lemina in Wolves’ 2-1 win over Southampton. Former Saints midfielder Lemina was dismissed in the 27th minute at St Mary’s after being shown a second yellow card for dissent. Lemina appeared to complain to Gillett after not being awarded a foul as a result of a challenge in midfield. Wolves duo Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho also questioned the referee’s decision at the time, but they escaped unpunished. Upon approaching the referee behind Neves and Moutinho, Lemina was swiftly shown his second yellow card. Reacting to his player’s dismissal,
Julen Lopetegui said: “The referee told us that it’s because he said something, but we have reviewed the images and he was the third player to come and say something – Joao and Ruben were very close (to the referee). Mario was so far (away) but he chose the third player to show him the second yellow card. For me it’s an unbalanced and unfair decision. If you are going to lose a player in this kind of match, you can’t lose a player for this. They have to manage this. In the end they are judges, they have to be equal and balanced. It’s not easy, his work, I know that, but maybe he can be more calm in these moments.”
Carlos Alcaraz had given Southampton the lead shortly before Lemina was given his marching orders. Wolves recovered though and secured a 2-1 win after Joao Gomes fired home a late winner on his debut.
Julen Lopetegui added: “It was a crazy match because we played 70 minutes with one player less. It was very difficult. Fortunately, the players showed they have big hearts, they fought a lot and believed a lot in the second half. We knew if we were able to arrive at 70 minutes without conceding the second goal we would increase our possibilities.”
