Referee Van der Eijk is disappointed with the red card: it was too heavy

Referee Sander van der Eijk did not think afterwards that he should have given NEC player Souffian El Karouani a red card on Saturday in the away game against FC Groningen. “It was a head push,” he told ESPN after seeing the footage. “It was too hard, I’m not happy with the decision.”

El Karouani got the ball kicked in the head in the 18th minute as he lay on the ground. When he got up afterwards, he briefly stood head to head with Groningen striker Jørgen Strand Larsen. Van der Eijk gave El Karouani red for the ‘heading push’.

NEC trainer Rogier Meijer did not understand Van der Eijk’s decision. “Nothing is happening at all, I’ve seen worse incidents this season that nothing is done about it. It’s complete arbitrariness.” NEC midfielder Lasse Schöne said of the referee: “It is a full stadium, the pressure is on. He is apparently not ready.”