The Lindsey Horan red card in the UEFA Women’s Champions League on Thursday has made the rounds among USWNT fans. The star American was sent off during Lyon’s group stage game vs. Norway’s Brann.
Horan’s red card occurred in the 52nd minute when she was fouled by Brann’s Karoline Haugland. The 29-year-old Colorado native wasn’t pleased about the challenge and gave her opponent a shove.
Tensions continued to rise as words were exchanged with Haugland and then with the referee.
Lindsey Horan red card
Lindsey Horan gets a straight red after a shove and some (likely bad) words post being fouled in #UWCL group play pic.twitter.com/VluwXaEEcC
— Taylor Vincent (@tayvincent6) December 21, 2023
The referee appeared to be reaching for a yellow card until Horan made one last comment. It’s unclear what Horan said to Haugland, but clearly it didn’t sit well with the referee as she upgraded the punishment to a red card.
Transparency as the author here. I’ve been searching Horan’s career stats for club and national team and haven’t found another instance where she has been sent off. This looks like the first red card of her career.
Horan has shown in the past that she won’t back down from an opponent. In the 2023 Women’s World Cup she had words for her club teammate Daniëlle van de Donk after a hard challenge.
With the @USWNT down 0-1 in the second half, Daniëlle van de Donk and Lindsey Horan were spoken to by the referee after a hard challenge and pushing in the box…
Just moments later Lindsey Horan had the last laugh, see how it all unfolded ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/0pqJFeR6q5— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 27, 2023
Horan’s fiery side got the best of her on Thursday as she was sent off and left her team down a player for most of the second half.
Lyon led 2-1 at the time of Horan’s sending off and conceded in stoppage time to settle for a 2-2 draw in Norway.
Lyon sit top of their Champions League group with two games to go and Brann three points behind. The other two teams in the group — St. Pölte and Slavia Praha — both have one point.
