Lurching gets centre-half sent off for a breather (4)
I believe the answer is:
lung
'breather' is the definition.
(you breathe with your lungs)
I cannot understand how the remainder of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lung that I've seen before include "breather" , "Air bag?" , "Of sound mind" , "Pulmonary organ" , "Breathing apparatus" .)