Credit: Sky Sports

Josh Edwards

Mon 16 March 2026 16:10, UK

Leeds United‘s Gabriel Gudmundsson was sent off against Crystal Palace, but Brennan Johnson somehow escaped the same treatment.

Taking into account the timing of Gudmundsson’s seemingly harsh dismissal, Leeds did extremely well to battle their way to a point away to Crystal Palace on Sunday.

But had it not been for another abject refereeing performance, this time from Thomas Bramall, the Whites may well have taken all three points home.

Dermot Gallagher has defended the decision to send Gudmundsson off in Leeds’ draw with Palace, but also the decision that saw Johnston stay on the pitch, despite the two being almost identical incidents.

Why was Brennan Johnson not sent off for Crystal Palace?

At this point, your guess is as good as mine.

Gudmundsson was rightly booked for his first foul on the Welshman, but to have received a second yellow for a challenge that was marginally on the halfway line was baffling.

On that incident in particular, Gallagher said via Ref Watch: “He gives him a yellow card, he has already had one 20 minutes earlier, it’s a red card, between them they have got it right.”

But later in the game, Johnson, who was also already on a yellow for a foul earlier, committed a nearly identical foul, but escaped without a second booking.

And despite the similarity, Gallagher believes that was also the right decision.

Gallagher said: “He did not issue a second yellow card, and he is right – why would it be a yellow card? He is not stopping a promising attack; he has not pulled his shirt back.”

What makes his argument invalid is the fact that the same criteria clearly weren’t used when Gudmundsson was sent off, given the position of the foul and the chances of a breakaway by Palace.

Premier League rules make Gabriel Gudmundsson mistake even worse

While this will never be admitted, there’s a case to be made that Gudmundsson was actually sent off by mistake.

It was clear that Bramall had forgotten that he had booked the Swede initially, and had he recognised that, it would have been unlikely he would have shown him a second yellow, just as he did with Johnson.

But for Leeds, that helps nothing.

Given the fact that it was a second yellow dismissal, the Whites have no ground for appeal, meaning Gudmundsson will serve a one-match ban, much to the annoyance of Keith Hackett.