Defoe was shown a straight red card for an elbow in the face of James Collins. It appeared to be harsh because although Defoe led with his arm in jumping for a high delivery, his eyes were focused on the ball at the time.
"I haven't seen it (the red card) since, but at the time I didn't have any arguments," said Redknapp. "I certainly wouldn't say I think he (Defoe) would go at the player intentionally though. Maybe it was just a little centre forward's challenge. The referee is a good referee, but he had a bad game."
Redknapp saw his side triumph courtesy of two goals from Rafael van der Vaart and he was content with his team's display, adding: "It was an excellent performance. We started brightly and went one-up.
"Losing Jermain Defoe obviously made it difficult, but we kept ball well in the first half. It was a bit more difficult to do that in the second half.
"I said at half-time we could hit them at the break, which we did. It was a fantastic second goal. The movement by Gareth (Bale) and then the finish by Rafa."
Source: PA
Source: PA