“He dived and got me a Red Card which Totheham bribed the referee-Fernandes reveals what Maddison told him after Man United red card vs Tottenham
Bruno Fernandes has slammed the decision to send him off in Manchester United’s defeat to Tottenham, revealing James Maddison agreed it was harsh for him to be shown a red card.
United needed to get back to winning ways against Tottenham after drawing against FC Twente in midweek, but Spurs took the lead after just three minutes through Brennan Johnson.
The tone for a dismal afternoon at Old Trafford was established from that moment and Fernandes earned a red card at the conclusion of the first half to add to United’s difficulties.
Dejan Kulusevski made it 2-0 three minutes after half-time and Dominic Solanke put salt in United’s wounds when making it 3-0 from a corner in the 77th minute.
United were overrun by Tottenham and many of supporters made an early escape from Old Trafford as an under-pressure Erik ten Hag looked on.
The choice to keep Ten Hag in the summer following FA Cup triumph split opinion and the talk over the manager’s future is becoming louder again after a dismal start.
After the game, Fernandes offered to talk to Sky Sports and he struck out at the decision to send him off. “I let my teammates down,” he remarked. “I do respect what they accomplished on the pitch and clearly it was tough for them. We didn’t start the game well with 11 versus 11.
“Then we had the circumstance with the red card and I think they handled extremely well. We surrendered another two goals and it was tough to cover all the openings, but I think there are many good things we can take away from this. The resilience of the squad was there and I’m proud of the team.
“Obviously nobody likes to be sent off and it’s not a pleasant feeling watching my teammates running a lot and trying a lot to earn a result because that’s what they were trying to accomplish.
“We ended up surrendering another two goals but they tried everything. Part of sliding and going in, I didn’t go into the tackle with studs and I took him with my ankle.
“It’s a blatant foul but never a red card and that’s my feeling. He [Maddison] said it was a foul but never a red card. I believe everyone can see that it is never a red card.
“If this is a red card, we must investigate many more incidences, and I have seen numerous instances of Onana being kicked, but I have never seen it as rapidly as a red card. It is never a red card.
“The touch is not that forceful, and if he wants to issue a yellow because it is a counter-attack, I agree, but I am not sure why VAR does not summon the referee to the screen.
“We found a lot of openings but did not connect [before the sending off], and I do not think it was always like one touch more, not fast passes, not quick link-ups, and we gave the ball away too often. The goal is the result of one bad pass from me, and they score.”
