Luke Shaw explains real reason for handball in injury time v Brighton

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Manchester United defender Luke Shaw has shed more light on his handball in the defeat to Brighton.

As defeats go, they don’t get more agonising than that. Manchester United’s loss to Brighton was a case of football’s cruel nature coming back to bite.

Three years ago United won late against Brighton with a winner after injury time. And then won against the Seagulls on penalties at Wembley. So winning with a late penalty was pretty sweet for the home side.

From a United perspective, it hurts. And we are left to reflect on an uncharacteristic handball error from Luke Shaw. But was there more to it than meets the eye?

Luke Shaw on handball

Luke Shaw has explained the real reason for his hand being so high to handle the ball when defending a cross. He says he got a push in the back.

While not dodging blame, Shaw says he believes a Brighton player pushed him.

He told Sky Sports: “I think I got a little nudge but the hand shouldn’t be there.

“I own up to it, take it on the chin, it cost us the game. It’s tough. I can’t even explain why my arm’s up there. I said I got a nudge, maybe that helped my arm go up, but still it shouldn’t be there.”

Manager Erik ten Hag was in agreement. He told club media: “I’ve seen that it is handball and maybe he is out of balance. Maybe he got a push from the back, but I can’t see because there are so many players.”

Shaw makes a valid point about his teammates

Luke Shaw pointed out that the game should never have come down to his handball, commenting that the team should have scored from the chances created during the game.

He said: “I know the problem, we know the problem, the problem is we don’t score. In the first half we had three or four big chances that we should be scoring. I think that’s happened a lot of times this season.”

You would struggle to find anyone disagreeing about Manchester United’s wastefulness in front of goal.

Erik ten Hag made the same point in his post-match interview, commenting: “We had clear chances with Antony dos Santos, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Casemiro. They all create opportunities and one has to be in.”