Give ground with defender shown red card? (4,3)
I believe the answer is:
back off
'give ground' is the definition.
'with defender shown red card?' is the wordplay.
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'defender' becomes 'back' (I've seen this in other clues**).
'shown red card?' becomes 'off' (in football, a player shown a red card is sent off).
'back' next to 'off' is 'BACK OFF'.
(Other definitions for back off that I've seen before include "Retreat" , "Give up" , "Withdraw from confrontation" , "as TV may have to be repaired" .)