Edinson Cavani defended by Uruguay manager after Copa America red card for reacting to bottom 'grab'

Uruguay manager Oscar Tabarez has defended Edinson Cavani following his dismissal against Chile at the Copa America.

Cavani was shown a second yellow in the 63rd minute for hitting out at Gonzalo Jara after the Chile defender appeared to grab the striker's bottom.

The Paris Saint-Germain star had already been given a yellow card for a foul on Arturo Vidal and Tabarez believes the officials should have taken into account the provocation he received before sending him off.

"For the expulsion of Cavani, you can see what happened and what the challenge was. I refer you to the television and photos of it, it is all there," he said.

"I can see that the referee has not seen it, but the linesman had to be able to see it from his position."

The incident capped a difficult 48 hours for Cavani, whose father was involved in a fatal road accident in his home country and remains in police custody. 

Tabarez, who had backed Cavani to remain 'fully focused on the game', beforehand, believes the outcome of the match would have been different had his striker remained on the field.

"We had the game under control but when we were left with 10 men it became a little more difficult because it limited our opportunities to attack," said Tabarez.

Uruguay finished the game with nine men after Jorge Fucile was dismissed in the closing stages for a physical challenge on Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez.

That incident sparked a mass confrontation between players and officials from both sides and Sanchez later revealed an unidentified player had apologised for Uruguay's reaction towards the hosts at the end of the match.

"They like to fight, argue, go forward all out; one player told me in the first half  'Move, you wimp', but then later he said to me: 'I am sorry'," he said.