VIDEO: Serie D Manager Red Carded For Slapping Own Player
In extraordinary circumstances in the Italian Serie D on Sunday, a manager was sent off for slapping one of his own players on the back of the head.
On-pitch scuffles are usually between players from opposite sides but managers attacking their own players is a rare sight in football.
The Serie D game between Grosseto and Montesori witnessed one of such rare sights in football much to the astonishment of everyone in the stadium.
Grosseto won the game 1-0 but the talking point of the game centred around the home side’s manager’s antics.
Grosseto head coach Lamberto Magrini was dismissed by the referee with 15 minutes remaining for attacking midfielder Riccardo Cretella on the substitutes’ bench.
Cretella reacted angrily to being substituted by Magrini, aiming a frustrated kick at the air on his way to the dugout, which left his manager angry.
Magrini headed straight to the dugout and slapped Cretella on the back of the head before taking his place on the touchline.
But the referee in charge ensured that Magrini’s behaviour did not go unpunished as he showed him a straight red card following a brief discussion with his assistants.
53-year-old Magrini is in his sixth spell as Grosseto manager.
Having edged Montesori in the top-of-the-table clash, Grosseto are on 48 points, a point clear of Sunday’s opponents in Serie D’s Group E.
