Harambee Stars central defender Joseph Okumu was shown a straight red card on Sunday, September 4, 2022 in KAA Gent’s 2-1 loss away to Sporting Charleroi.
Okumu was given the matching orders, 7 minutes before the break after an altercation with Sporting Charleroi player Isaac Mbenza.
The former Chemelil Sugar player was pushed by Mbenza as he tried to prevent the French forward from getting the ball.
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The slight push in the back made Okumu react angrily. Instead of staying calm, he lost his cool and shoved Mbenza to the ground.
The referee had no option than to dip his hands in the pocket, remove a red card and show it to Okumu.
Speaking after the match, KAA Gent head coach Hein Vanhaezebrouck stated that Okumu let his team mates down.
"Joseph Okumu is a great guy, but what he did there is unacceptable. He let his team down for a push. I have no problem with the red card, it's justified. I do have a problem with the Mbenza foul because it went unpunished.
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“Well, if you always get red from now on because you react to a foul, then I'll accept that. Then it's clear, anyway we decide the match here ourselves," he was quoted by MozzartSport.
Prior to the sending off of Okumu, the two sides were level 1-1. However, the red card proved to be costly for KAA Gent since they went up losing the match 2-1 thanks to Adem Zorgane’s 75th minute strike.
After the defeat, KAA Gent dropped to the 7th position while Sporting Charleroi climbed to 4th in the Belgian top tier league.
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