Arsenal loanee receives straight red for dangerous challenge | OneFootball

Arsenal loanee Fabio Vieira received a red card with Hamburger SV on Sunday, spoiling an otherwise encouraging performance from the midfielder.

Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images

Arsenal’s Fabio Vieira had made an encouraging start to his loan spell with Hamburger SV before last weekend, leaving the field to a standing ovation in his previous appearance after assisting one goal and winning a free-kick leading to another.

For a while, it looked like Sunday’s game against Union Berlin would be a similar story. Once again, Vieira created three chances in addition to taking a few shots, though none of those opportunities resulted in a goal this time.

But in the 98th minute of the match, with the scores still level at 0-0, Vieira was handed a straight red card.

Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images

Vieira was chasing down a clearance on the right touchline when he jumped up to attempt to control the aerial ball. Unfortunately, he failed to connect with the ball and his foot instead collided with Union Berlin’s Leopold Querfeld.

Querfeld rolled around on the floor holding his face, despite replays showing that Vieira only made contact with his shoulder and upper arm. The player was clearly withdrawing his foot after missing the ball. All the same, it was a dangerous challenge and the Arsenal loanee was quickly dismissed.

Photo via HSV on Instagram

In the Bundesliga, red-card suspensions are determined on a case-by-case basis. Vieira will be suspended for at least one match, but it’s unclear whether or not the DFB will demand that his absence is extended beyond that.

Hamburg face Mainz on Sunday, October 5th, followed by RB Leipzig on October 18th and Wolfsburg on October 25th. If Vieira’s ban is extended to the three games he’d get in England, he might now end up spending a full month away from the pitch.