Man Utd won 2-1 against Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday, and a red card changed the game.
Maxence Lacroix was sent off for a foul on Matheus Cunha.(Image: 2026 Molly Darlington/Copa)
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Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner slammed the decision to award Manchester United a penalty on Sunday afternoon. Palace were leading 1-0 at half-time thanks to a header from Maxence Lacroix, but the defender's red card in the second half turned the game on its head.
Lacroix pulled Matheus Cunha to the ground and referee Chris Kavanagh pointed to the spot. VAR reviewed the incident and Lacroix was subsequently sent off.
Kavanagh announced: “After review, Crystal Palace number five commits a clear holding offence which denies a clear, obvious, goal scoring opportunity. Final decision is penalty and red card.”
Glasner was not happy with the decision to award a penalty when he spoke after the game. "The red card changed the game completely," he said. "I think it's a very hard decision. The foul starts outside the box. Matheus Cunha is very smart to wait until he is inside the box and fall down."
When asked about the decision again, Glasner said: "We spoke to the fourth official, they had to check was it offside, where does the foul start and is it a red card. There are a few different situations to judge.
"But it still feels it's the wrong decision. It's not a penalty, maybe a red card for a foul outside the box, but the foul starts outside the box. It's maybe a little bit the Old Trafford bounce."
Palace defender Chris Richards also described Cunha as 'smart' when he spoke to Sky Sports. "When you start off with a big 1-0 lead early on, you want to ride the momentum. After the red card, they rode their momentum. Overall, disappointed but proud of the performance we put in today," he said.
"When you're playing away at a place like Old Trafford, more than likely the home team is going to get a call like that but that is the nature of the game. Matheus Cunha is a smart player.
"He knows how to play and if you feel a tug in the box, you're going to go down so credit to him for that. It hurt us a bit, of course, going a man down but you can't take anything away from our performance today. Regardless of how many people we have on the pitch, we still put in a good performance."
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