Club Brugge coach Nicky Hayen has defended Raphael Onyedika after he was sent off in the first half of a UEFA Champions League match at AC Milan.
It was the second red card of the season for Super Eagles midfielder.
Hayen said it was a tough challenge and Onyedika was unlucky to see red.
“That duel was hard against hard, the fourth ref even came to see if it wasn’t a red card for them. Then we were of course surprised that it was us that got the red card,” he said.
“But I haven’t seen the video yet. At the moment you can speak of a bit of bad luck.”
Onyedika was gutted and coach said he will sit down with him.
“We have comforted him now. We will have a calm conversation about it. We are also a warm club in that respect, one that does not drop players,” he said.
“That’s how we’re going to look for solutions together, I don’t want him to change his game, but these kinds of mistakes have to be eliminated. We have to become smarter about that. It’s not always easy to learn that.”
Onyedika will now be suspended for the visit of high-flying Aston Villa to Belgium next month in continuation of the Champions League.
