Twitter Reacts as Wilfried Bony Receives Red Card vs. Southampton

Two yellow cards inside the first 40 minutes caused Swansea City striker Wilfried Bony to see a red card before halftime in the club's clash with Southampton.

The Premier League noted the Ivory Coast international's early exit:

Both challenges came against against Saints defender Maya Yoshida. The first yellow coming in the 19th minute and then again about 20 minutes later. The second one being a reckless foul considering he was already working with a card.

Gary Taphouse of Sky Sports was surprised by the ferocity of both fouls:

George Hartrey of GTH Football agreed with the referee's decision to show the red card:

"

RED CARD: Bony sent of for Swansea. Flies in to a tackle when he's already on a yellow. Awful challenge. Deserved of a second yellow.

— George Hartrey (@gthfootball) September 20, 2014"

The BBC's John Bennett notes the two quick cards were out of the ordinary for Bony:

Gareth Vincent of the South Wales Evening Post noted the referee received plenty of heat from the home supporters after the halftime whistle:

Southampton announced after the break that Yoshida, who was on the receiving end of both hard fouls and also had a yellow of his own, was replaced by Florin Gardos for the second half:

The Everton Podcast quickly pointed out the red card would also mean Bony is unavailable for the Capital One Cup fixture with the Toffees on Tuesday:

All told, it was simply some poor decision making by Bony. The first challenge was unnecessary because Yoshida had already won the header and the second was rash in any situation, but especially so due to the prior yellow.

The result is his club is forced to play a man down for more than a half and will be without him in any role for the Cup clash. It's not something you expect to see from Bony, which makes the entire situation even more surprising.