Black Stars captain Andre Dede Ayew has described his dismissal in his debut game for French Ligue 1 side Le Havre as “frustrating”.
He said this in an interview with Le Havre’s official YouTube page in the aftermath of his dismissal from Le Havre’s game against Nantes.
Ayew, who recently signed for the Mariners after a long spell out of action on the club front, was a second half substitute on his debut game but lasted just two minutes after receiving a straight red card for apparently stomping on an opponent. (Click highlighted text to read full story)
Speaking to the club’s official channel, the veteran player admitted it was frustrating to get sent off but admitted the incident is part of football.
“It’s true that what happened was frustrating but that’s football. I think that with some experience, we can look at some situations in hindsight but I am rather calm after I looked at the images. On the incident, this is what I made of it. There was a 50-50 ball and we went in before I did. I saw that he had dived in and I lifted my foot.”
“In the process, I tried to land to regain and in regaining my footing, I stepped on his shin guard.
At that moment, the referee gave his decision but that’s football. I did not have any intention to hurt him no matter what especially on my debut and return to Ligue 1.”
Despite playing with a man down for almost 30 minutes, Le Havre drew goalless with Nantes.