Oliver Langford was perfectly placed to show Bolton Wanderers defender Sam Inwood a red card in their defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.
Former PGMOL chairman and ex-FIFA official Keith Hackett exclusively told Football Insider that Langford made the proper decision following the centre-back’s foul on Charlie McNeil in their Carabao Cup match.
Wednesday’s first-round match was marred by Dejphon Chansiri’s ongoing reluctance to sell the club, despite unpaid wages and the absence of numerous first-team regulars, including captain Barry Bannan. Prior to Bannan’s contentious second yellow card, Henrik Pedersen’s team held their own in Sunday’s 2-1 setback to Leicester, but recovered to beat the 10-man Trotters on penalties following a 3-3 draw in normal time.
Sheffield Wednesday succeed after Bolton dismissal
Wednesday led 1-0 after eight minutes at the Toughsheet Community Stadium thanks to Guilherme Siqueira’s 35-yard strike from right back, and things quickly got worse for the hosts. McNeil attempted to go in behind after a knock-down in the 27th minute, but was hauled back by Inwood, and he hit the deck just on the edge of Bolton’s box, winning a free kick rather than a penalty.
Langford promptly blew for the foul and hoisted a red card in the air for Inwood after a brief delay, reducing the Trotters to ten men for the remainder of the encounter as Wednesday attempted to turn the screw.
Bolton’s ten men equalized through Jordi Osei-Tutu, but the Owls reclaimed the lead only 60 seconds later, thanks to an equally clinical strike from Ike Ugbo on 37 minutes. Bolton clung on and ultimately equalised through substitute Thierry Gale in the 77th minute, and Amario Cozier-Duberry did the same in injury time to force penalties following Reece Johnston’s own late strike.
Langford in ‘brilliant position’ for Bolton v Wednesday red card
The former FIFA referee spoke exclusively to Football Insider about Langford’s decision to send Inwood off following McNeil’s run in behind the Bolton Wanderers defenders and expressed complete agreement. “The referee was brilliantly positioned to determine if a foul had been committed – congratulations to him,” Hackett told Football Insider. “Oliver Langford gave himself some thinking time before correctly showing a red card to the Bolton Wanderers player, for a clear denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity.”
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