Belgian commentator, Peter Vandenbempt, insists that Super Eagles midfielder Raphael Onyedika should have been sent off in Club Brugge’s 3-0 win over Royal Antwerp during their Belgian Jupiler Champions round encounter on Sunday.
Onyedika scored the opening goal for Brugge in the 44th minute but the controversial point of the game came in the 51st minute after a double-legged tackle on Antwerp midfielder Jurgen Ekkelenkamp.
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Referee Bram Breydel Driessche immediately showed the Nigerian a yellow card but failed to go to the monitor to check if the foul would have warranted an upgrade to a red card.
Replays show Onyedika going in for a tackle on Ekkelenkamp. However, the impact seems more forceful than it might have been because Onyedika appears to lose his footing at the last moment.
A red card in that instance could have changed the entire trajectory of the game which Brugee went on to win 3-0 with Michal Skoras and Philip Zinckernagel adding to the scoreline.
“Yellow isn’t enough here, isn’t it? Onyedika does slip away a bit, but still,” said commentator Peter Vandenbempt at Eleven Sports/DAZN. “The VAR has to look at this. Onyedika came in very strongly and was too late anyway, the fact that he slips away does play to his advantage,” added analyst Franky Van der Elst.
Onyedika has scored three goals in three Championship Playoffs games, propelling his side to two wins and one draw.