Manchester United taught a footballing lesson to ten-man Spurs at Old Trafford, but they could still count themselves lucky to “escape” with a 2-0 loss, as per Mark Clattenburg.
Michael Carrick has now overseen the longest winning run since Erik ten Hag was in charge, and he’s done it by beating three big teams and Spurs.
Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes scored in a game that Man Utd dominated from start to finish, also leaving numerous goals on the plate.
Who was your Manchester United man of the match against Spurs?
While they missed those chances, Mark Clattenburg’s verdict on two incidents showed they were hard done by on the referee’s part, too.
Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur - Premier League
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Mark Clattenburg on ‘lucky’ Spurs incidents
Man Utd fans are pretty used to being on the wrong end of refereeing decisions, regardless of who the manager is.
The difference is that United are dominating so much under Carrick that he’s made those marginal calls irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.
However, it doesn’t mean United don’t have the right to feel aggrieved when they are done dirty by more errors, of which there were two against Spurs.
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The first was the foul on Matheus Cunha, which happened outside the box and continued inside, but wasn’t called.
Clattenburg said: “Once Sarr does not touch the ball after moving his leg across Cunha to create a tripping offence, a foul should have been awarded.
“Replays show that the initial challenge happened outside, so a free kick should have been awarded, and therefore the VAR cannot interfere.”
While United should feel aggrieved over that missed call, the second one was even more glaring, as Van de Ven wrestled Harry Maguire to the ground in the penalty box.
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Clattenburg said: “Micky Van de Ven can be lucky not to give away a penalty after not looking at the ball and swinging an arm which makes contact with Harry Maguire after the ball is played in from a corner.
“When players are not looking at the ball, it makes it more likely a penalty could be given. However, I do not believe this to be a clear error from the referee, so I did not expect VAR to recommend a review.”
On another day, United should have finished the game with at least three goals, and easily four or five if they were on it with their finishing.
It continues the pattern of United being forced to fight from underneath due to refereeing decisions, but as long as they continue to dominate things they can control, this remains a side issue instead of the main one, as it was under Ruben Amorim.
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