French ref sends off wrong player on debut

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There was controversy during Valenciennes' 3-0 win over Toulouse on Saturday as referee Stéphane Jochem sent off the wrong player on his first top flight game.

Valenciennes took the lead at home to Toulouse in controversial fashion when Jochem awarded a penalty for what he deemed a foul by Burkina Faso international Steeve Yago on Grégory Pujol.

The referee appeared to show Yago the red card but inexplicably sent off Serbian defender Uroš Spajić who had little to do with the action.

After the game, Jochem blamed his fourth official for the screw up.

"It seemed to me that it was not the player who had been excluded who had made the foul," said Toulouse coach Alain Casanova afterwards.

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