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HULL CITY MANAGER Steve Bruce was unsure whether David Meyler deserved a red card or not after the midfielder was sent off in the 3-1 Premier League loss at Swansea City.
Meyler was dismissed by referee Andre Marriner in the 53rd minute at the Liberty Stadium after Paul McShane had reduced Hull’s deficit to 2-1 following goals from Ki Sung-yueng and Bafetimbi Gomis.
The former Sunderland man dived in to a challenge with Kyle Naughton as he pursued a loose ball, and he did appear to catch the Swansea defender’s leg with his studs.
Gomis went on to add a third goal for Swansea late on as Hull slipped to a defeat that keeps them only three points above the relegation zone.
On the sending off, Bruce said: “We’re just getting back into the game, we’ve got [back to] 2-1 and we’ve had a really good opportunity to make it two each. And, unfortunately, David has picked up a red card.
“I’ve seen it six times. On three angles I’ve seen it, I’m saying that’s a perfectly decent challenge. The other three I look at it and say he takes part of the ball but his leg collides with the boy.
“We may as well say, these grey areas, we’re not allowed to tackle if you tackle on the floor.
“On his [Marriner's] angle he might see that it was reckless but I’m ranting and raving at my team at half-time to make sure that there is a few challenges and make a bit of a fist of it. And in the second half we did that.”
While Bruce was largely understanding of Marriner’s decision, he was quick to criticise the assistant referee for failing to spot Gomis standing in what he believed was an offside position for the first of the striker’s two goals.
Gomis netted with a spectacular scissor-kick after Hull had failed to deal with a ball back into the box following a corner to put the result beyond doubt.
“Gomis’ [goal] is a fantastic bit of individual skill, but he is five yards offside,” Bruce added.
“When the ball comes back into the box, we’ve had a collision between our players because of Gomis’ whereabouts.”
