Nigerian striker Peter Olayinka’s headbutt on a Slovan Liberec defender on Saturday night resulted in a red card for the Slavists and may have lost them three points in the Fortuna Liga, according to Slavia Prague head coach Jindich Trpiovsk.
The 27-year-old was sent out in the 89th minute with Slavia ahead 2-1, but the Slavists gave up following his removal to guarantee a scoreless match.
Igho Ogbu’s deflection allowed Liberec to score in the 26th minute, breaking the scoreless tie, but Olayinka equalised in the 30th.
In the fifth minute of stoppage time, though, Liberec’s Nigerian attacker Victor Olatunji saved a point for his team, making the score 2-2.
Slavia coach Trpiovsk attributed Olayinka’s expulsion to his disruptive behaviour in his post-game interview.
“We will deal with it clearly. It was when we were leading 2-1, there is no reason for such a reaction,” Trpišovský said to Slavia’s official website.
“In addition, he was one of the best and most active players in the match, on the other hand, we should have an overview and finish it differently.
“There was no reason for such a reaction, whether he was fouled or not, that is a question, a matter for judgment, but he cannot react like that. It’s one thing that he sent us into, which caused how we finished, another thing is that we will miss him in the next games.
“It’s an incomprehensible short circuit that has never happened to him in the entire five years he’s been here.
“We will definitely deal with it with him, I wonder what the reason is that he reacted like that in the first place.”
In 18 league appearances this season, the Nigerian international has tallied 10 goals and five assists. He will be absent from Prague’s upcoming two games.
