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.
