West Ham United manager David Moyes says that more cards will be dished out in the Premier League this season after Nayef Aguerd was sent off in Sunday’s 3-1 victory over London rivals Chelsea.
The Moroccan centre-back scored the first goal of the game but was sent off for a second bookable offence following a rash challenge on Senegal forward Nicolas Jackson.
The 27-year-old will receive an automatic one-game ban and Moyes believes things will get harder as rules surrounding issuing of cards were further tightened for the 2023-24 season.
Fantastic win against Chelsea for our opening game of the season at home ????
Glad to have scored my 1st goal of the season in front of our fans
Let’s go for more#COYI pic.twitter.com/ajGZdCe20o
— Nayef Aguerd (@AguerdNayef) August 20, 2023
“I don’t think Nayef should have gone to ground and made that second tackle after being booked, but I think we’re going to see a lot of cards this season,” Moyes said on the club website.
“Last year, I can’t remember us having a red card, but I think we’re going to see more people sent off this season. It will certainly make things a lot harder.
“We had to sit in and defend the box, which we did brilliantly well in the second half. I’ve got to say I’m also pleased with a couple of the counter-attacks we had, particularly the one that led to the penalty. It was good to see.”
West Ham will do without Aguerd when they take on high-flying Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium on Saturday. He will return for another away trip at Luton Town on September 1 before the commencement of the two-week international break.
