Club Brugge manager, Nicky Hayen, refused to blame Raphael Onyedika after the midfielder was sent off in Thursday night’s UEFA Europa Conference League encounter against Italian club, Fiorentina.

The hosts capitalised on their numerical advantage to beat Hayen’s side 3-2 in the semi-final first leg tie.

Onyedika was first booked for a poor tackle in the 58th minute.

The Nigeria international was dismissed three minutes later after receiving his second yellow card of the game.

The 23-year-old will now miss the second leg at the Jay Breydelstadion next Thursday.

“The (Onyedika ) player himself did not know that he already had yellow and you could see from his reaction that he was surprised,” Hayen told the club’s official website.

“He did not know that he already had yellow and I will also defend him in that regard. He is, in that respect more intelligent and otherwise he would not have used that tackle in that way.

“It shows the aggressiveness of the team and that we do not want to give away any gifts and that is why I say it was unfortunate.”

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