Casemiro‘s red card against Crystal Palace two weekends ago appeared harsh at the time. The Brazil international raised his hands towards Will Hughes, and was dismissed after a VAR check.
An angle later showed Casemiro to be more gripping Hughes by the shoulders than by the neck.
Now the midfielder is serving a three-game ban. It seems the same rules do not apply to everybody.
An incident in the Merseyside derby on Monday night showed Everton’s Conor Coady hold an opponent by the neck, aggressively arguing
Premier League inconsistency
Just like with the Casemiro case, the pictures make the Coady incident look worse than it was in real time. But the same rules should apply.
Following the incident at Old Trafford, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag criticised the inconsistency which saw Casemiro singled out from a two-team melee.
Ten Hag told Sky Sports: “Casemiro is protecting our player, and protecting the player, holding him back. If Casemiro should have been sent off, many more players should have been sent off.
“You have to be consistent as a VAR. Last week we missed Eriksen, no intervention from VAR. Martinez was running for two weeks with a bump on his eyebrow after Mateta elbowed him. This isn’t right.”
We can only wonder what Ten Hag would have made of the decision not to punish Coady in last night’s game.
The same rules should apply to both. Either Casemiro and Coady are both sent off and serving suspensions, or they should both be let off.
The inconsistency in the regulations being applied has blighted the league so far this season, not just in United games.
Last night’s Merseyside derby was won by Liverpool, who are still 14 points behind Manchester United in the Premier League table.
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