A-League: Brian Kaltak sees another questionable red card; his third of the season

The Central Coast Mariners, Brian Kaltak‘s club in Australia, had a very tight contest against New Zealand-based side Wellington Phoenix in Gosford this Friday (24th Feb) – the final result was a 1-1 draw; New Zealand international duo Storm Roux and James McGarry combined for the first goal of the Mariners – Roux crossed and McGarry with a first touch finish found the nets of Oliver Sail. The Wellington Phoenix managed to find a late equaliser thanks to a goal of the Polish striker Oskar Zawada at stoppage time.

But the spotlight of the match came once again to Brian Kaltak; this time in a negative way. The Vanuatu international tackled English striker David Ball, he caught the ball at first, slided it over and touched the leg of the Phoenix’s player. The referee does not waste time and shown a direct red card for Kaltak – his third of the season, the most of any player in the league so far. You can see the exact moment of the red card by clicking here.

The referee possibly understood the play as high tackle by Kaltak, although the Ni-Vanuatu 29-year-old player caught the firstly – making the red card a very harsh decision from the referee. Many Mariners were unhappy with the decision of the referee on social media; the Brazilian striker Matheus Moresche was also sent-off, reducing Mariners to finish the game with only nine players.

Kaltak saw a red recently on 4th February against Sydney FC – that was also very controversial. The Vanuatu national team captain was sent-off in a match against Macarthur FC last November. All of the three red cards were shown directely.

Despite the dissapointment, Mariners still sits second on the A-League’s table as they are impressing in the season so far. Their next match is scheduled to be played on Saturday 4th March against Western Sydney Wanderers – that Kaltak will not be taking part as will be serving his third game of suspension in this season.