Fulham fullback Sascha Riether has jumped to the defence of Brede Hangeland after his dismissal against Sunderland.

Riether had a clear view of the incident and said Emmanuel Adebayor's two-footed lunge against Santi Cazorla in the previous day's north London derby between Spurs and Arsenal was "10 time heavier".

The right-back insisted: "For me it was no red card. I couldn't understand it and it changed the game. We were good, we were controlling the game, but such decisions change games and for us it was a different game then.

"To play such a long time with 10 players is not easy. We tried our best, we had good chances, perhaps better chances than Sunderland, but in the end we lost and it is very disappointing."