Vinicius Junior stole the show in Real Madrid's win over Villarreal, and the hours after the final whistle belonged to him too.
His red card left Madrid to see out the game with ten men and wiped out the goal he had just scored himself. The closing minutes turned uncomfortable. Victory was nearly thrown away.
Journalists queued up to pick the incident apart, largely because the mistake was entirely of Vinicius's own making.
A player of his experience should know better than to hand the opposition a route back in. Ruben Canizares made exactly that point when he turned to the flashpoint from Real Madrid against Villarreal.
The Defensa Central network published Canizares's remarks, delivered on Cope radio's "Tiempo de Juego".
Ruben Canizares said: "Vinicius does not know the laws of the game. He ruined a brilliant attack that ended in a goal."
He added: "His behaviour was stupid. He should have been smarter, because the match would have been settled at that moment."
Whether a light tug of an opponent's hair, one that doesn't even knock him off balance, deserves a dismissal is open to argument.
The laws say it does, and referees are left to apply them correctly and fairly. Vinicius ought to have known that much, and he cannot afford a repeat.
What sharpens the criticism is Canizares's reminder that "Vinicius is quicker than Saliba, and he had the better of him in terms of positioning".
So there is no excuse for ruining a brilliant attack that ended in a goal with an action he could have avoided altogether. The goal was chalked off. Real Madrid spent the final minutes suffering.