I'm not well up on the rules but I would have thought that if you intentionally kick the ball at an opposition player when it's not in play it's an automatic yellow.
I understand the judgment calls and being more lenient with players on a yellow but if it's an automatic card then it's an automatic card.
To be fair I think primarily he did Sunderland a lot of favours with that display. He doesn't come across as out for himself at all. I'd be surprised if he actually wanted to go just at this stage of his career but can see him being sold and he'll raise more money.