The rule that's killing the game - Double Jeopardy

You can see the logic:
The ball is played in behind the back four and a nippy forward is onto it in a flash. The centre-back is never going to catch him, so he makes a despairing grab at his opponent's shirt and brings him down. A goal scoring opportunity is lost and the supporters of the attacking team are outraged. A free kick thirty yards from goal is no compensation for the loss of a free run at the keeper. So the bureaucrats who make the rules came up with the idea of giving the defender a red card. He won't do that again.

The problem arises when the offence takes place inside the penalty area. We've seen countless game recently when the result of a match has been put beyond doubt by the application of this rule. Spurs seemed unlikely to overturn their one goal deficit to Manchester City in January. The sending off of Danny Rose ended any doubt. City scored from the spot and Rose's card was rescinded when it became clear that he'd made a good tackle. Little comfort for either him or the Spurs fans whose day out was ruined by an excessively harsh rule. Their chances were slim with eleven men, zero with ten. Similarly Wojciech Szczęsny was dismissed for a clumsy challenge on Arjen Robben in Arsenal's UCL tie against Bayern. There was little intent, the forward was just too quick for him, but the challenge could not go unpunished. Current rules demand that he was shown a red card. Again, game over.

We pay too much to watch football for games to be decided on a single incident. It's time to make the punishment for the crime. Rule makers need to understand that sanctions applied by the referee ought to deter foul play, it is not enough to dream up what is all too often an inappropriate punishment.
Football is slow to learn from other sports, a theme I intend to explore more in later blog posts, but the answer to the question could be lifted straight from Rugby Union and the concept of the penalty try. 

If a defender denies a clear goalscoring opportunity, the referee should award a goal. The defender would only receive a card if the severity of his challenge would have merited one anywhere else on the pitch.

It's a simple idea, it's an appropriate punishment and it might very well deter defenders from committing the offence in the first place.  In the game at the Emirates, Arsenal would still have been one down but they would have had eleven players to attempt to close the deficit.  Spurs and Danny Rose would still have had a goal given against them unjustly, that issue requires a separate solution of which more in a later blog, but they'd still have had eleven men on the field.

Should we carry on with the compulsory red card or take a lead from Rugby Union? Please let me know what you think.