Hannibal Mejbri had a very eventful game for Manchester United’s under-23 team on Monday night.
Hannibal scored a fantastic strike from the edge of the box to give United a lead against Derby.
This was Hannibal’s fourth goal of the season for the under-23s and his most spectacular of all.
Sadly, it was all downhill from there.
Red card ruined United’s night
Hannibal was fouled inside the Derby half minutes after the interval. He protested in the referee’s face, demanding a booking for the Rams player.
The referee responded by sending Hannibal off.
It seemed a bizarrely harsh decision, although it later turned out that it was a second yellow, with Hannibal booked for an incident in the first half.
The incident was criticised by West Indies international cricketer Carlos Brathwaite, a Manchester United fan, who urged United to seek greater protection for Hannibal, fearing he could choose to quit the club due to the standard of refereeing.
While Hannibal should not have got in the referees face and demanded he book the Derby player after he was hacked down, his frustration is understandable.
He is, anecdotally, the most fouled player in United’s team, with opponents targeting him as he is one of United’s most dangerous players. He also gets riled up a little too easily sometimes.
This was his second red card of the season. He will be banned, technically, for tonight’s Premier League match with Leicester, which he was not going to play anyway, due to the close proximity of the under-23 game.
Hannibal recently signed a new contract with United which runs until 2024.
United collapsed in the second half after going down to 10-men, losing 3-1.
It wasn’t surprising. Striker Joe Hugill was out injured, while Amad and Anthony Elanga were rested as they will be with the first team. Many of the players were promoted from the under-18s, who had played a game just two days earlier.
Hannibal was a little unlucky not to be rested like Elanga, but his chance may come later. The under-23 season is now finished.
He could get a chance for the first team during the last couple of games, against Fulham and Wolves. Hopefully Solskjaer will still give him a chance and not count his red card against him, but he does need to be able to trust the teenager.
The 18-year-old has clearly got the talent, he just needs to work on his temperament.
He needs to learn not to get riled up, and he has also discovered, harshly, that demanding to a referee that an opponent gets booked, can occasionally backfire.
His red card was unneccesary, and he will not want to be responsible for costing his team a first team game.
But it works both ways. Referees must protect him too, and Hannibal was sick of the fouling going unpunished. The more he is fouled and the opponents get away with it without being booked, the more it is encouraged.
United’s coaches must try to work with officials to express their frustration at the way he is targeted by opponents, and urge them to crack down on it. At times this season it has been clear Hannibal has not had enough protection from referees, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer won’t stand for that at first team level.
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