Liverpool loanee Harvey Elliott was sent off for two yellow card in under a minute during Valencia‘s 2-1 defeat to Villarreal in LaLiga on Saturday.
It took Elliott’s loan spell in Spain thus far from bad to worse with the 23-year-old yet to start for Valencia, making six substitute appearances this season. He is also yet to score or assist for the LaLiga side.
The game was level at 1-1 at the time of his sending off, the 89th minute, with Villareal going on to take all three points in the sixth minute of stoppage time as Georges Mikautadze put one past the 10-man Valencia side.
Elliott appeared frustrated with a decision going against one of his teammates, before referee Alejandro Quintero Gonzalez booked him twice in the space of seconds for apparent dissent.
Speaking after the game, Valencia boss Javier Aguirre seemingly took responsibility for the red card himself, while admitting it was an “irritating” decision.
“With 11 of us against their 10, we weren’t doing badly,” he said.
“We were in the game. And then, an absurd, ridiculous sending-off, obviously for talking. He barely speaks Spanish, so I don’t know what he could have said to the referee, or perhaps the referee is bilingual, I really don’t know. But it was for talking and that really irritates me, yes, yes.
“I’ve already made that clear to him, and there are rules, and we can’t … It’s not his fault, it’s my fault, if anything, for picking the players I do and playing the way we do. It’s entirely my fault, but I’ll sort it out internally and say what I need to say.”
Elliott left Liverpool on loan in the summer after failing to force his way into new manager Andoni Iraola’s plans. The move followed a horror spell on loan at Aston Villa last season, where he was frozen out of the first-team squad by Unai Emery.
