England’s newest star Angel Gomes endured a night to forget as he became the first player to be sent off in this season’s Champions League.
Gomes was shown two yellow cards within the space of just 19 minutes in the first-half of Lille’s 2-0 loss to Sporting Lisbon.
The midfielder, who impressed in his first two England games during the international break, received his first booking in the 21st minute for a push on Francisco Trincao.
Long time Arsenal target Viktor Gyokeres opened the scoring in the 38th minute, but just moments after the restart Gomes was shown his second yellow and given his marching orders for a studs up challenge on the Swedish forward.
Zeno Debast’s stunning strike in the second-half sealed the victory for the home side on the opening night of the newly revamped Champions League.
As for Gomes, the Manchester United academy graduate will now miss Lille’s huge clash against reigning champions Real Madrid on October 2.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Lille manager Bruno Genesio was unimpressed with the referee, though more with what he thought was inconsistent decisions rather than the red card itself.
‘Two minutes later [after the opening goal], we take this second yellow card from Angel which puts us in difficulty since we are one less,’ the Frenchman said.
‘I haven’t seen the images again so I can’t tell you, but what I find strange, without getting into controversy, is that there was a foul on Benjamin Andre a few minutes before Angel’s sending off which wasn’t even punished with a yellow card.’
Gomes’ profile has risen greatly since Lee Carsley first called him up to the Three Lions squad last month, with many praising the 24-year-old’s calm and composed displays against Ireland and Finland in the Nations League.
With his contract up at the end of the season, he has been linked with a return to the Premier League with Liverpool, Newcastle and Tottenham all interested.
For now, Gomes will next be in action for Lille’s Ligue 1 clash against Strasbourg on Saturday.