What did Lewis Dunk tell Anthony Taylor?

After challenging the referee, the Brighton star was shown a straight red card, which in that situation would only be for ‘offensive, insulting, or abusive language’.

Brighton captain Lewis Dunk will serve a two-match suspension after being sent off during his team’s 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest.

It means that the 32-year-old will miss the Premier League games against Chelsea on Sunday 3 December and Brentford at home on Wednesday 6 December.

What did Dunk tell Taylor?

Taylor initially showed Dunk a yellow card for questioning the referee’s decision to award Forest a 72nd-minute penalty when Brighton led 3-1.

Dunk, on the other hand, said something else to Taylor, who promptly showed him a straight red card. Forest‘s penalty was converted by Morgan Gibbs-White, but Brighton held on to win.

On social media, fans claimed to have captured Taylor saying, “He’s called me a f***ing b***end.”

However, Dunk‘s exact words have not been confirmed, and the Brighton captain has yet to publicly respond to the suspension. Only “offensive, insulting, or abusive language” would result in a straight red card in that situation.

Responses

“I wouldn’t want to call you that on a Monday morning, and if I did, I wouldn’t be standing here the next Monday,” former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher said on Sky News.

He stated that Dunk had “gone a little bit too far,” adding, “For whatever reason, he’s lost control of himself for that short period of time.” “Almost as soon as he says it, he regrets it.”

Dunk can be seen holding his hand up to the referee after making the remark, and then offering his hand for a shake before Taylor dismisses him.

The Brighton defender is the first player to be sent off during a game for abusing a referee since Alan Smith for Newcastle in a 6-0 loss to Manchester United in January 2008.

Similar dissent after the final whistle has resulted in red cards for Lee Cattermole after a derby game between Sunderland and Newcastle in March 2012, and for Neal Maupay – also while playing for Brighton – against Wolves in May 2021.