Manchester United have been handed a verdict on the decision not to give Nathan Collins a red card for fouling Bryan Mbeumo in the penalty area.
Manchester United’s poor league form continued as Rúben Amorim’s men fell 3-1 to Brentford on Saturday afternoon.
Igor Thiago struck twice in the opening 20 minutes, first racing in behind to beat Altay Bayındır before doubling the hosts’ lead soon after. Benjamin Šeško replied with a scrappy goal, but United couldn’t find an equaliser before the break.
Amorim introduced Kobbie Mainoo and Leny Yoro to change the momentum, and United were handed a penalty when Brentford fouled in the box. Bruno Fernandes stepped up, but his effort was saved after a long delay.
United pushed late on, yet Brentford held firm and sealed the result in stoppage time as Mathias Jensen rifled in their third.
Collins should have been sent off
While United’s loss was yet another tough one to stomach for fans, many are justified in questioning the officiating of the tie. In the second half, Bryan Mbeumo was deliberately brought down in the area by Nathan Collins, and although a penalty was given, a long delay ensued, and Collins was not sent off.
According to the Premier League’s official social media channels, a red card was not given as Mbeumo did not have control of the ball, which meant it was not a goalscoring opportunity.
However, many have since criticised this explanation, as a cross is often accompanied by a first-time finish, which, by definition, doesn’t require the ball to be controlled to score.
In reaction to the weekend’s results, former England strikers Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer were in complete agreement over just how poor the decision to keep Collins on the field was.
“There should have been a red card,” Lineker said on The Rest Is Football podcast. “I mean their excuse as well seemed, I mean it was not in control of the ball, it’s a cross coming in that you’re about to side foot in the back of the net.
“To be in control of the ball, it’s got to be a circumstance where you’re dribbling through, so, therefore, by their logic, if there’s a cross coming in and you completely hack down, then you can’t be sent off. It doesn’t make any sense.”
For a red card to occur in the area, there has to be no attempt to play the ball, which Shearer added was evidently what happened. Nathan Collins himself admitted after the game that he knew he would not be sent off, stating his foul was a “tactical” one despite being in the area.
“There’s no way he’s going for the ball,” Shearer said. “He clearly pulls him back, and clearly Mbeumo would have put it in the back of the net, and had a clear effort goal if he hadn’t have been pulled. I mean, it was a ridiculous decision, clearly a massive error by another referee and the VAR again.”
Another shocking weekend for referee decisions
United’s fixture against Brentford showed yet another poor refereeing display, but it was not the only one. Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Newcastle was marred by controversy, particularly a supposed foul in the area by goalkeeper Nick Pope on Viktor Gyökeres.
In the 15th minute of the fixture, a poor back-pass allowed the Swedish striker to run through on goal, and he took it around Pope before being completely taken out. However, after a long VAR intervention, it was deemed that Pope got the slightest touch on the ball, meaning the contact was not a foul.
While that in itself is a debate, as it’s clear Pope had no control of the ball and clearly wiped out his opposing striker, Arsenal boss Arteta pointed out that, if it’s taking those in charge such a long time to make a decision, it’s not a clear and obvious error, so VAR should never have intervened.
“There are a few things we can speak about, for example, the penalty,” said Arteta at full-time. “For me, if we have VAR, it is for a clear and obvious error, and the fact that it took the ref that long to decide shows it is not a clear and obvious error.
He later added, “Well, I watched it back and watched it live as well,” Arteta later added. “And if it’s not a clear and obvious error, VAR should not intervene.
“We’ve been told this for a few years, this style of decision again, and for me, it’s very clear that it doesn’t have to intervene because it’s a penalty.”
The season so far has once again shown that the standard of refereeing in England is poor, with very little consistency in decision-making and little to show that it will improve anytime soon.
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