Marc Cucurella has broken his silence after receiving a red card following Chelsea's win at home to Brentford on Sunday evening.
The Blues moved just two points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool after picking up a 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge, with Cucurella opening the scoring with his first of the season.
Nicolas Jackson put Chelsea 2-0 up before Bryan Mbeumo reduced the deficit late on. Chelsea held on for a crucial win, with the only negative for them being that Cucurella was sent off after the final whistle.
The Euro 2024 winner received a yellow card for a foul on Fabio Carvalho late on but was also accused of feigning a head injury in a clash with Vitaly Janelt, who ended up getting booked and penalised for a foul.
After being branded "embarrassing" for his actions, Cucurella would then be shown a second yellow at the end of the game for clashing with Kevin Schade.
A Premier League statement confirmed: "The referee issued a second yellow card to Cucurella for adopting an aggressive attitude. Schade was also booked for the same offence."
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Cucurella will now be suspended for Chelsea's trip to Everton on Sunday, with Renato Veiga set to deputise at left-back.
The Spaniard took to social media to comment on the win, posting a picture of him celebrating his goal and writing: "Good win at home to finish off the week! We go again."
His next outing is likely to come against Fulham on Boxing Day after the second yellow, which manager Enzo Maresca said he "didn't see" but acknowledged "there are things we can do better".
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However, Brentford boss Thomas Frank was critical of Cucurella's behaviour and the way in which he went to the ground clutching his face late on.
He said: "I think Cucurella is a top player, he is doing well. But I don't like it when players go to the ground and holding their face [incident in stoppage time]. I will say to Cucurella because I respect him massively."
Chelsea will look to make it eight wins in a row in all competitions on Thursday when they host Shamrock Rovers in the Conference League.
Topics: Marc Cucurella, Chelsea, Brentford
Josh Lawless