Sol Bamba's shirt: 'The ref asked if I took it off, I said no', says Cardiff defender

Here's a tip - never play Sol Bamba at poker. He's an excellent bluffer.

After scoring Cardiff City's 90th-minute winner in Saturday's 2-1 victory over Brighton, the defender sprinted away and, pretty much immediately, tore off his shirt in celebration.

As we know, by the laws of the game, a player removing their shirt should receive a punishment of a yellow card, just like Demarai Gray did for Leicester last week.

So how did wily Bamba escape such a reprimand?

"The ref said to me 'did you take your shirt off?' I said 'no I didn't'," said Bamba after the game. Simple.

It's odd that Martin Atkinson and his team of officials didn't spot the Frenchman stripping off because:

1. He definitely took the shirt off (there are pictures and everything).

2. He ran directly towards the referee's assistant, half naked.

3. He definitely took it off (yes, we've said that twice but it's such an important one it needed to be repeated).

Cardiff boss Neil Warnock seemed bemused.

"I don't think Martin [Atkinson] will have done that on purpose, if he didn't see it that is what linesmen are for isn't it?" he said.

"I did mention to the referee when he warned us before the game about taking your shirt off that I hoped three of my lads got booked for taking off their shirts today, because we don't score too many goals, do we?"

True, Cardiff have just 11 Premier League goals this term.

In fairness to the referee, it is tricky to tell if Sol Bamba has taken his shirt off...

If you look really carefully, you might be able to spot that Bamba is shirtless in this picture...

...you might be able to see it a bit more clearly from this angle perhaps