Commit foul against defender that brings strong reaction (8)
I believe the answer is:
kickback
'strong reaction' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'commit foul against defender' is the wordplay.
'commit foul' becomes 'kick' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'against' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'defender' becomes 'back' (left-backs and right-backs are football defenders).
'kick'+'back'='KICKBACK'
'that brings' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for kickback that I've seen before include "(Illicit) confidential payment to facilitator" , "strong reaction" , "Commercial bribe paid by a seller to a purchaser as an inducement to buy" , "Bribe paid by seller to purchasing agent" , "Illegal payment" .)