---
title: "Leeds: Graham Smyth spots Stuart Attwell hesitation vs Aston Villa"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/stuart-attwell-leeds-villa-sinisterra-sent-off/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "David Comerford"
section: "Leeds United News"
published: "2022-10-03T10:50:46Z"
modified: "2022-10-03T10:50:46Z"
---

# Leeds: Graham Smyth spots Stuart Attwell hesitation vs Aston Villa

**[Leeds United](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/leeds-united-news/) journalist [Graham Smyth](https://twitter.com/GrahamSmyth/status/1576613339601453058) reckons that referee Stuart Attwell forgot that Luis Sinisterra had been carded before he sent him off for a second bookable offence.**

### The lowdown

Leeds and Villa played out a goalless draw at Elland Road on Sunday, although it was arguably a better point for the hosts after they spent all but three minutes of the second half with 10 men.

Whites winger Sinisterra, who had his name taken by Attwell in the first half for [a trip on John McGinn](https://twitter.com/PhilHay_/status/1576602044516876288), was then shown a second yellow card for impeding a quick free-kick.

### The latest

Smyth took to [Twitter](https://twitter.com/GrahamSmyth/status/1576613339601453058) immediately after the red card to share his observation. He thinks that Sinisterra might actually have stayed on the pitch if Atwell had remembered his earlier caution.

The reporter tweeted: *“50 – Attwell had to be reminded that Sinisterra was on a yellow. Had he remembered, I don’t think he makes that decision.”*

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### The verdict

It was a difficult afternoon for Attwell on Sunday.

You do have to have some sympathy for him, though, given that this fixture featured the highest number of fouls [in any Premier League game this season](https://twitter.com/JRCooper26/status/1576856008986877952). That suggests it was very much an ill-tempered affair which was hard to control.

\[freshpress-quiz id=”410182″\]

Still, the official came under fire from some journalists on social media.

[James Marshment](https://twitter.com/marshyleeds/status/1576635224082894848) of TEAMtalk called it ‘one of the single worst refereeing displays ever witnessed’, [Josh Bunting](https://twitter.com/Buntingfootball/status/1576615073094651905) questioned his ‘consistency’ and [Matt Maher](https://twitter.com/mjmarr_star/status/1576604568640577542) of The Express & Star urged him to ‘get a handle’ on the game.

Either way, it now leaves Jesse Marsch without Sinisterra to call upon for next week’s trip to Crystal Palace as he will now serve a rather avoidable [suspension](https://www.premierinjuries.com/injury-table.php).