Leeds United were left furious on Sunday when Gabriel Gudmundsson was shown a second yellow card in their 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
The decision just before the break meant Leeds had little option but to protect the 0-0 in the second half and leave Palace with a point in their bag.
Pundits have slammed the decision, and Daniel Farke revealed that Thomas Bramall, the referee in the middle all of it, had forgotten that he had issued a previous yellow card to the Leeds defender.
Farke and Leeds have had their issues with referees in the Premier League this season, but it seems the Premier League has finally woken up to the problem.
Premier League reacts to the Leeds United controversy
The Premier League recently admitted that they made another high-profile error against Leeds in their 1-0 defeat against Sunderland at Elland Road.
Their referee appointments for this week’s Premier League games make it clear they’ve acknowledged Bramall made a major mistake at Selhurst Park.
Bramall will not officiate a top-flight match, nor will he be on VAR duties for any game, which seems to be a punishment for his performance last weekend.
In fact, the Sheffield-born official is not set to oversee any EFL fixtures either, as he hasn’t been assigned to matches in the Championship, League One or League Two.
Bramall has officiated 18 Premier League matches so far this season, along with three in the Championship.
The top-flight referee has not taken charge of a fixture in recent gameweeks, and his only role this weekend is as fourth official for the Carabao Cup final between Arsenal and Manchester City.
The Whites have had several issues with referees this season
Farke’s side have every reason to feel hard done by, with questionable refereeing decisions affecting the outcome of their third consecutive league game.
Leeds will believe that with better officiating, they could have avoided home defeats to Manchester City and Sunderland ahead of their trip to Palace.
Gudmundsson’s red card on Sunday clearly hampered their chances of pushing for a win after the break, and in the end, they were relieved to come away with a point.
With the relegation battle intensifying, Farke will be hoping the luck finally starts to turn in Leeds’ favour during the run-in.
The battle for survival is tightening, and Leeds cannot afford any more refereeing errors to cost them points at the business end of the season.
Bramall indeed. Typical PL shutting the gate after the horse has bolted. What about that fat little oik from the Sunderpants game? He should be mugged off along with Bramall. 5 points lost to tos£ers.