Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has hit out at the standard of Premier League officiating after his midfielder Casemiro left Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Southampton in tears following his second red card of the year.
The Brazilian was dismissed following a lunge on Southampton’s Charly Alcaraz in the first half at Old Trafford. Referee Anthony Taylor initially showed the ex-Real Madrid man a yellow card, before upgrading it to a red upon review via the pitch side monitor.
It was only the second straight red of his career and came five weeks after he was sent off against Crystal Palace. And Ten Hag refused to lay the blame at his player.
“Casemiro played over 500 games in Europe and never once got a red card,” Ten Hag said. “Now, what is it, two in four or five games? In 20 games in the Premier League he has two red cards.
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He added: “[Casemiro] plays tough but he plays fair. Also in this, he’s playing fair, same as against Crystal Palace, so it’s very debatable.
“Everyone who knows something about football, you know when you freeze it, it looks bad. Everyone who knows something about football knows what is bad, what is fair and I tell you Casemiro is a really fair player.
“Tough, but fair and it shows over 500 games in big leagues, never sent off.”
Casemiro left the field in tears and had to be consoled by teammate Antony. The red meant United were forced to play 56 minutes with 10 men against the league’s bottom side. Goalkeeper David De Gea backed Casemiro after the game, and questioned the consistency of referee Taylor.
“I think Casemiro was unlucky,” De Gea said. “He tried to touch the ball and his foot came up high. I think the referees need to show more consistency. Sometimes they show a red card and sometimes they don’t.”
Which games will Casemiro miss?
The midfielder, who has arguably been United’s most influential player this season, will now miss the next four domestic games.
He will sit out of the FA Cup quarter-final against Fulham, the trip to Newcastle on 2 April, and home games against Brentford and Everton.
“It’s going to be tough, he’s a big player,” De Gea added. “We will miss him for four games but we have a big squad.
“We have players coming from the bench who do well. We will keep working hard.”
Casemiro has already served a three-game ban for the red he picked up against Palace back in early February. He subsequently missed the back-to-back ties with Leeds United and the 3-0 win over Leicester.
Ten Hag, meanwhile, was also unhappy his side weren’t awarded a penalty when Armel Bella-Kotchap appeared to block a Marcus Rashford cross with his arm. The defender had slipped and was falling when the ball made contact, but Taylor was happy to play on.
Asked if United should have had a spot kick, Ten Hag said: “Definitely. There’s no doubt. I don’t know why VAR didn’t interrupt. Because it has previously done.”
"This game was influenced by the referee"
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) March 12, 2023
Erik ten Hag questions the officiating in Manchester United's 0-0 draw against Southampton… pic.twitter.com/poB1NDdH9E
Next up for United is a trip to Real Betis for the second leg of their Europa League last-16 clash on Thursday.
“We have to settle down,” Ten Hag said. “We have four days before the next game against Real Betis. We have to analyse this game from our own perspective with 11 [men], and with 10, and I think in both we did very well. We had a good performance today, we know that. We didn’t [win] and in the end we take the one point and carry on.”
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