The Premier League have issued a statement explaining why Bruno Fernandes’ straight red card in Manchester United’s loss to Tottenham Hotspur stood and was not changed to yellow.
Erik ten Hag’s team continued their tough start to the Premier League season with a 3-0 home loss to Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford.
Despite going into the match as favorites, United were shocked in the third minutes when Brennan Johnson opened the scoring.
The England international turned home from a couple of yards after defender Micky van de Ven’s brilliant run from deep before cutting the ball back from close to the byline to the unmarked Johnson.
Though United looked like a team ready to fight back, the Red Devils were given a huge task when captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off by referee Chris Kavanagh for a high challenge on Spurs midfielder James Maddison.
James Maddison is fouled by Bruno Fernandes which results in a red card (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
During the match, the Premier League Match Centre – which provides information directly from the Match Centre, VAR Hub and PGMOL experts – explained the red card was for serious foul play. It stated: “The referee issued a red card to Fernandes for a challenge on Maddison. The VAR checked and confirmed the referee’s call of serious foul play.”
Erik ten Hag while sharing his opinion on the decision to send Fernandes off, said: “I don’t think it’s a red card. We had big chances [before it] and it’s only 1-0 so we could make a comeback. It had a big impact on the game.”
On his sending-off, Fernandes said: “Apart from slipping going in, I don’t take him as everyone wants to see it. I don’t go with the studs, I take him with my ankle. It’s a clear foul but never a red card. That’s my feeling. Even Maddison, when he gets up, you can see in the image… he just said, ‘It’s a foul but it’s never a red card’. That’s what he said. I think in the eyes of everyone, you can see that is never a red card because if this is a red card I think we have to look at many other incidents. I had many incidents when I get kicked and everything, and I’ve never seen something so quick coming off as a red card. I just think it’s never a red card.”
United will be without their captain for three Premier League matches and Erik ten Hag will be counting on other players to turn up as the pressure continues to increase from fans.
