English giants Manchester United secured a vital three-point haul at the Theatre of Dreams earlier tonight when Erik ten Hag’s Red Devils saw off Crystal Palace in a 2-1 win that saw the club leapfrog Newcastle United into third spot in the Premier League and within touching distance of rivals Manchester City.
Goals from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford on either side of the halftime interval were enough to push United across the finish line, but proceedings at Old Trafford were otherwise marred by a touchline scrum in the 68th minute that ultimately saw veteran Brazilian midfielder Casemiro receive his marching orders after replays on VAR showed the former Real Madrid man to have grabbed Palace midfielder Will Hughes by the neck with both hands, and deemed to have been violent conduct.
Ten Hag cogent in his assessment of Casemiro’s red, Palace’s aggressors and the inconsistency of VAR #mufchttps://t.co/7cd6YEl3Zx
— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) February 4, 2023
There was little protest from Casemiro as he walked off the pitch and down the tunnel, still receiving applause from supporters around the ground, but Ten Hag has levied criticism surrounding match officiating after he felt Palace players had gotten off light, with the Dutch tactician feeling as though both Jordan Ayew and Jeffrey Schlupp had gotten off light by comparison.
“We played a brilliant game, was a really high level first 70 minutes until the incident took place and then you see this team stands for each other. It’s such a good spirit in the team and they don’t accept when a player from us can be badly injured and that’s the way Antony got treated.”
“This team sticks together but of course, you have to control your emotions. But it’s really difficult in such a moment and I see two teams fighting each other. I see two teams of players crossing the line and then one player gets picked out, gets sent off. And for me, that’s not right. The player from Crystal Palace takes a big risk by this foul that he gets badly injured by pushing him across the line and you know the pitches here. And then everyone is reacting, Crystal Palace and Manchester United players, and not only Casemiro.”
“He (Ayew) was one of the players who did even worse than Casemiro. Casemiro, you freeze the moment, I think within the shot he’s crossing the line there, I do definitely. And you have to be consistent as a VAR.”
