Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has made his position clear on the red card decision against Bruno Fernandes in Manchester United’s 3-0 defeat to Tottenham.
Brennan Johnson fired Tottenham into the lead at Old Trafford in only the third minute before Bruno Fernandes was at the centre of controversy in the first half.
Fernandes slipped during his challenge on James Maddison and the Manchester United captain caught the Spurs player high on the leg with his tackle.
Referee Chris Kavanagh brandished a red card and sent the 30-year-old United midfielder off, which sparked widespread backlash over the decision.
Dejan Kulusevski doubled Spurs’ advantage only two minutes into the second half before Dominic Solanke netted Tottenham’s third at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Tottenham’s convincing 3-0 win at Old Trafford piled further pressure on United manager Erik ten Hag, who has faced mounting criticism over his side’s form.
United have only managed a possible seven points from 18 in their opening six Premier League matches of the season under Erik ten Hag.
Gallagher on red card against Fernandes
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch, Dermot Gallagher claimed that referee Chris Kavanagh couldn’t see the challenge from Bruno Fernandes on James Maddison.
The former Premier League referee insisted that it could be seen as an “optical illusion” for Kavanagh due to the “glancing blow” on the leg from Fernandes’ tackle.
Gallagher disagreed with Kavanagh’s red card call and believes that a more “palatable decision” would have been to book the Manchester United captain.
“I don’t think the referee can see it,” he said.
“He can’t see the challenge happen. It’s a glancing blow down the leg. He has an optical illusion, a more palatable decision would have been a yellow card.”
Ten Hag reacted to Fernandes’ red card
United resume their Europa League campaign on Thursday with their trip to Portugal to face Porto at the Estadio do Dragao.
The Red Devils were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw against FC Twente at Old Trafford in their Europa League opener last week.
Speaking after the Tottenham match, Ten Hag insisted that Fernandes’ sending off had a “big impact” after United’s “very poor” start at Old Trafford.
“It was clear we started the game very poor,” he said at his post-match press conference.
“After we concede the goal like we did in the third minute, and you are actually outnumbering [the opposition], and then concede a goal from a counterattack where a centre-half is crossing the whole pitch and then bring, on the goal-line, a cross in and then on the back post tapping in.
“That was our game plan; we should protect that area very good in your best defence in the defensive transition, because we knew the strength and from that point on, we are very stressful in the game and in possession, we didn’t find the spare man in the switch, bad decision-making, we couldn’t keep the ball, not aggressive enough or to play around with third-man actions, too many ball losses and also we didn’t get the press right.
“First 20 minutes was no good but we were still alive and we also had our chances with [Joshua] Zirkzee, with [Alejandro] Garnacho hitting the post, then you can always come back.
“But then the red card, then we are downsized and it also has a big impact in the game.”
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