• Premier League

Allardyce: Flores got Carroll sent off

ESPN staff
February 1, 2014
West Ham will appeal Andy Carroll's red card © Getty Images
Enlarge

Sam Allardyce has accused Chico Flores of conning referee Howard Webb into sending Andy Carroll off in West Ham's 2-0 win over Swansea at Upton Park.

West Ham were leading through two goals from Kevin Nolan, both assisted by Carroll, when the striker was involved in an aerial challenge with Flores, and appeared to catch the defender with his arm.

Flores then lay on the ground clutching his face, with Carroll given his marching orders by Webb with just over half an hour to go in the match.

Allardyce's side hung on to make it four points from two games this week, but he was left fuming over what he perceived to be theatrics on Flores' part.

"I've just had a look at it and from our point of view I can't see why Howard has decided to give him a red card," Allardyce told BT Sport.

"His arm's gone over the top of his head and while his arm's swinging round, coming from a position where both players have tangled and are coming round to correct their balance, there were players running round to obscure his [Webb's] view.

"So he can't be absolutely certain of what's happened, except that Chico Flores is over-exaggerating, which is generally the norm for him unfortunately.

"To clutch his face and roll around, I think that's had a big influence on Howard's decision, thinking that it's caught him in the face when it hasn't at all.

"If we're going to red card people for that then we might as well stop playing and I might as well retire.

"The game's all about physical contact - there's two challenges gone in and there's nothing happened of any major incident. Nobody's been hurt."

Carroll appeared not to be concerned about the red card, taking Twitter after the match to celebrate the victory.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd
ESPN staff Close