Watford boss Tom Cleverley said referee Lewis Smith was taken in by Norwich City's "dark arts" in the home defeat against Norwich City.
Cleverley said: "Unfortunately the referee has been played. I thought Norwich were good at the dark arts. Every time someone made contact with their players they fell to the ground.
"I can't justify Vakoun Bayo's reaction [which got him sent off]. He knows he's let his team-mates down. He's pushed Marcondes in his chest - and it's a disappointing reaction from him.
"If you counted the amount of times Marcondes fell to the floor you'd have a decent tally.