(Football news) It seemed to be another routine victory for Manchester United as they appeared to cruise past Crystal Palace with a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford. However, the dynamics of the game changed drastically when Brazilian midfielder Casemiro received a red card in the 70th minute after which Jeffrey Schlupp found the back of the net in the 76th minute to give Patrick Vieira’s team a lifeline.
What followed was a nervy ending as Old Trafford got behind the players in red to protect their slender one goal advantage while the visitors came close to equalising through Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eberiche Eze. However, Erik ten Hag’s side managed to hold on, thereby securing their 13th consecutive home victory.
Speaking after the match, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said “The player from Crystal Palace takes a big risk. Antony could be badly injured by pushing him across the line. Then everyone reacts – our players and their players. There’s a player who did even worse than Casemiro. You have to be consistent as a VAR.
“Last week when Eriksen was injured, no intervention from VAR. Martinez was running for 2 weeks with a lump on his eyebrow after Mateta elbowed him when we played at Crystal Palace. This isn’t right. Casemiro is protecting our player, and protecting the player, holding him back. If Casemiro should have been sent off, many more players should have been sent off.”
Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira said “I didn’t see the red card, I was far from it. The game has to be played with respect, and sometimes when you don’t respect your opponent, things can happen. The player from United was looking for it, and he created this situation. But it’s about remaining calm, concentrating on what you want to do, and I was pleased with the character we showed today.
“It was a tough game, a really tough decision from the referees. But we tried to play with a lot of discipline, we conceded the first goal and it was tough for us but we managed to stay in the game.”
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