There was controversy less than a minute into Manchester United’s 0-0 draw with Manchester City.
Ruben Amorim wanted his Manchester United side to bounce back after the 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest midweek and the players responded.
The Red Devils started quickly and within a minute Alejandro Garnacho was bursting through on goal. However, he was taken to ground following a challenge from Ruben Dias.
Referee John Brooks delayed before awarding United a free-kick on the edge of the box and showing Dias a yellow card.
Replays revealed that the challenge did begin outside of the box, but with Garnacho through on goal it begs the question whether Dias was denying a goalscoring opportunity.
Mark Clattenburg verdict on Alejandro Garnacho and Ruben Dias incident
Despite the quick start, United were unable to break the deadlock with Garnacho’s early chance one of the best in the game.
United in Focus spoke exclusively to former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg to get his view on the incident.
“The referee gets this one right!” Clattenburg said.
“Garnacho is tripped by Dias and the first question to the referee was whether the contact was outside the penalty area.
“When you look at the challenge in more detail, the contact is just outside the area and the body of Garnacho falls inside after the contact.
“The next decision for the referee is to see if the challenge meets the criteria of stopping a goal-scoring opportunity. This is not met as there are covering defenders and therefore Garnacho does not have a clear passage to have a clear shooting opportunity against the goalkeeper of Manchester City.
“The VAR will check the incidents and the referee is not clearly wrong in his decisions so therefore the referee team gets this one spot on!”
Alejandro Garnacho’s struggles continue
There were plenty of questions asked about Garnacho’s performance following the defeat to Forest.
However, Amorim defended Garnacho’s display and kept him in the starting XI for the Manchester derby.
It is still not clear if Garnacho fits Amorim’s system at Manchester United, with the 20-year-old preferring to stay out wide rather than play narrow.
READ MORE: Five things learned as Man United draw 0-0 against Man City
With only four goals and one assist in 29 Premier League appearances, Amorim needs better output from Garnacho if he is going to be the long-term solution in this attacking three.
Ineos are open to selling Garnacho, and if his performances don’t improve then it could be agreed that he’d be better off elsewhere.
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