Cape Town City are under fire for defending Kermit Erasmus’s shocking kick that saw him shown a straight red card in Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw with Highlands Park.
The City striker’s 17th-minute moment of madness saw him strike opposition player Mothobi Mvala after Mvala tried to stop a quickly-taken free kick and left his team to play the rest of the match with 10 men.
Coach Benni McCarthy described the kick as "stupid", but went on to say that his mid-season recruit was provoked.
Benni even brought up Highlands Park players’ season-ending tackles on midfield stars Thabo Nodada and Roland Putsche.
After the match, the Bafana Bafana legend said: “Up until he got provoked and got sent off he was sensational.
KUNG-FU KERMIT: The incident which aw Kermit Erasmus receive a red car against Highlands Park. Supplied.
“They couldn’t handle him and that was the only way they could try and stop us and get a point from the game was to get one of our players sent off.
“When we played them last [in February] we lost Roland to injury after tackles from them
“Thabo Nodada out the whole season after tackles from them. They know the capability of our team.”
Fans also slammed City’s Twitter feed for misleading the public and condoning Erasmus’s conduct.
During the match @CapeTownCityFC tweeted: ”18 RED CARD Kermit Erasmus after some pushing and shoving with Mvala who went down like a movie character."
@AkhonaJako hit back: “So his club condones this kind of behaviour. I’d like the @OfficialPSL to take further action here.”
@salutewear1 adds: “Teach your players manners they must get that Cape mindset out.”