Red Mist

In a moment of madness in the 50th minute at Stamford Bridge, 29 year old Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack earned the first red card of his career with a calculated stamp on Mohamed Sissoko which could have caused the Liverpool player serious injury.

It was an isolated incident which is quite untypical of one of the most elegant and technically gifted players in the Premiership and to his credit Ballack was the first to apologise to Sissoko after the game for an act of impulse described by his manager as “a clear red card”.