Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has claimed that referee Anthony Taylor had a significant impact on Sunday’s scoreless Premier League tie with Southampton.
The Red Devils were favorites to defeat the Saints, but they got off to a bad start when Casemiro received his second red card.
Initially showing a yellow card for the incident, Taylor eventually awarded the Brazilian a red card after being prompted by the video assistant referee to check the foul. United was additionally denied a clear-cut penalty in the second half. Armel Bella-Kotchap used his hand to shield the ball in the box, but he escaped with a penalty.
Ten Hag admitted that the club will deal with Casemiro’s wrongful dismissal, and he also noted that the referee’s questionable decisions may have affected the final result of the game. While speaking to the club’s official website, the Dutch boss said:
“That is not the issue. We will deal with that. The issue is that this game was influenced by the referee. No, I said what I said. That is the refereeing is influencing the game and we talk about two issues.”
United is still in a good position to make the Champions League for the following season, but dropping two points to Southampton at home might be expensive in the long term.
We believe the Red Devils easily could have won the game. A yellow card would have been a reasonable decision as Casemiro undoubtedly received the ball before the opposition attacker.
Leicester City star Ricardo Pereira avoided a booking for a comparable challenge against Chelsea only 24 hours prior, raising questions about the consistency of VAR. United ought to be awarded at least one penalty in the contest. Bella-Kotchap obviously handled the ball, and the Saints ought to have been penalized once more near the finish.
Despite the deadlock, Newcastle United, who are in fifth place but have a game in hand, are still six points behind United.
