Cristian Romero handed instant verdict as Casemiro red card earns Tottenham star lengthy ban

Tottenham captain Cristian Romero was shown a straight red card after catching Manchester United midfielder Casemiro on the ankle with a reckless tackle at Old Trafford

Cristian Romero will serve a four-match ban after being shown a red card for a poor tackle on Manchester United midfielder Casemiro. The Tottenham captain was dismissed 29 minutes into the Premier League's early kick-off on Saturday at Old Trafford.

Romero went into a challenge with Casemiro and caught the Brazilian on the ankle. Referee Michael Oliver was right on the scene and immediately brandished the red card.

The Spurs skipper didn't seem to argue and went over to check on Casemiro before trudging off, leaving his side with an uphill battle against United, who took the lead shortly after through Bryan Mbeumo.

He will miss Spurs' next four Premier League matches, against Newcastle, Arsenal, Fulham and Crystal Palace, having earned an extra game of suspension because its his second red of the season.

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The Premier League match centre wrote on X: "The referee’s call of red card to Romero for serious foul play was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that the challenge was made with excessive force and endangered an opponent."

Ex-Premier League referee Darren Cann told BBC Sport: "Cristian Romero makes a forceful challenge on Casemiro which is, in law, undoubtedly a serious foul play tackle. It was a really excellent decision from referee Michael Oliver, who was brilliantly positioned."

Ex-Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said: "It was a really enjoyable high-tempo game, and then Romero goes through the ball with too much ferocity and catches Casemiro. It's a red card. It is irresponsible, especially after a week where he's been talking about recruitment and a lack of players. Now he's going be missing for four games. He's the captain, the leader - he needs to do better. He's let his team-mates down, because they were in the game."

Former Spurs defender Michael Dawson said on Sky Sports' Soccer Saturday: "Romero comes through, he thinks there's a tackle there, it's full throttle. He follows through. I don't need [ex-Premier League referee] Mike Dean. I don't need VAR. It's not going to be overturned. I hope Casemiro is going to be OK."

Former Everton midfielder Leon Osman said on BBC Radio 5 Live: "I think that is a borderline one. It is a contact sport. Casemiro's speed of thought gets him there first and Romero as he always does is fully committed. For me it is not an automatic red because it's not like he was high and over the top of the ball, but he does make contact."

The red card continues a chaotic few months for Romero, who has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. At the start of January, he accused the Tottenham hierarchy of lying and later described the lack of depth in the squad as "disgraceful".

Tottenham manager Thomas Frank was forced to defend his captain in the build-up to the United game. “Cuti is a very passionate player and captain who wants to leave every­thing on the pitch,” said Frank.

“He is very ambitious and wants to win every single time. Sometimes, when you are like that, you can have an outburst like this time but we have dealt with it internally.”

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