Was Steve Cook unlucky to be sent off at Sheffield Wednesday?

I keep watching back the challenge that Steve Cook made on Josh Windass of Sheffield Wednesday to see whether it should really have been a penalty or not. The decision could easily have gone either way, but referees are primed to give attackers the advantage when they have a clear sight of goal and I can see why the penalty was given, even if I think it was unlucky for Steve Cook to be sent off.

Steve Cook is punished but rightly feels unlucky to be sent off

The way that Cook used his shoulder to try and put pressure on the attacker was not clumsy it was calculated to nudge Windass sufficiently enough that he would gain control of the ball. A shoulder charge anywhere else on the pitch I would argue would be unlikely to see a foul called. But when an attacker goes down when he had looked favourite to score, it is going to give the referee a decision to make and if he judges there was excessive contact and the attacker has not dived he will point to the spot. Personally, I thought the decision was harsh as Cook used his shoulder. But that is football.

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Steve Cook will be annoyed with himself even if he looked disbelieving when he was sent off. Had the decision been the other way around I am sure our fans would have been baying for the penalty. I am not sure we would have been demanding that the defender be sent off though. The referee seemed a bit card happy in the number of cards he produced on the night, but I was expecting a red card for two yellow card offences, not a straight red for what was considered a professional foul. The irony of the issue is that VAR might have saved Cook in the Premier League, but there's none of that in the Championship.

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So, I would say Cook was unlucky to be sent off. The attacker made the most of it but it was an annoying way to give one side the advantage in the game. The real worry for Tindall though should be how come Windass could make that run and our defenders look so flat-footed and behind the play, which gave Windass a couple of yards on the defenders enabling him to beat Begovic and potentially score? Bournemouth need to solve that problem in upcoming games rather than dwell too long on the actual foul as it was called. Steve Cook wouldn't have had to make such a challenge in the box if he had been more aware of Windass' run.

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