MADRID, Jan 3: Mason Greenwood was accused of insulting a referee in the Spanish league on Tuesday, becoming one of three Getafe players sent off in a 2-0 loss to Rayo Vallecano.
The referee said in his post-match report that Greenwood insulted him in the 50th minute with an expletive in English, something that the British player and the Spanish club denied.
“He doesn’t speak Spanish very well, he told me that he was saying something else,” Getafe coach José Bordalás said in his post-match interview. “He was frustrated because the referee was not calling any fouls on him, but he never offended anyone. It was just a comment that he made.”
Referee Jorge Figueroa Vázquez also said in his report that, after being sent off, Greenwood made a gesture pointing to his head and expressing his disagreement with the decision.
Greenwood is playing with Getafe on a loan from Manchester United, which he left at the end of last season following a criminal investigation into a possible attempted rape that was closed by prosecutors.
Getafe also lost defender Damián Suárez for allegedly insulting the assistant referee moments after he was substituted in the 70th.
The hosts had been playing a man down from the 40th after forward Juanmi Latasa was sent off with a second yellow card.
Sergio Camello scored in first-half stoppage time and shortly after halftime to help Rayo end an eight-match winless streak in the Spanish league. The result left Rayo in 11th place. Getafe stayed eighth.
GOALKEEPER SENT OFF
Real Sociedad overcome a red card to its goalkeeper in the first half to salvage a 1-1 home draw against Alaves.
Martín Zubimendi scored with a shot from inside the area six minutes into stoppage time to secure the draw against the fellow Basque Country team.
The result extended a 25-match winless streak on the road for Alaves, which also conceded in stoppage time while playing with an extra man in a 1-0 loss to leader Real Madrid at home in the previous round.
Luiz Rioja converted a 76th-minute penalty kick to give the visitors the lead. Zubimendi got the late equalizer after reaching a loose ball inside the area and sending a low shot into the net.
Sociedad played a man down from the 36th after a blunder by goalkeeper Álex Remiro. He left his area to intercept a long cross but misjudged the bounce of the ball, having to use his hand to keep it from going over his head and reaching an Alaves player in front of the open net.
Sociedad coach Imanol Alguacil had to replace forward André Silva with reserve goalkeeper Unai Marrero. (AP)
