Jamie Carragher has criticized the way Bruno Fernandes reacted to Phil Foden’s sending off during Manchester United’s 1-0 defeat at Manchester City.
The hot spot appeared in the 23rd minute at Old Trafford. Foden kicked the Manchester United captain after a conflict between the two and was sent off. Manchester City were forced to play with ten men for more than an hour, but Haaland still scored the only goal of the game in the second half.
The red card continues to divide opinion, with Carragher now making it clear he was particularly unhappy with Fernandes’ reaction.
Jamie Carragher criticizes Manchester United captain
Carragher, speaking on Monday Night Football, said two yellow cards were the more reasonable outcome and accused Fernandes of exaggerating the contact.
He said it was reported Mirror:
“What I want to say is two yellow cards [cards] It would have been good. But I’m really disappointed with Bruno Fernandes. “
Carragher continued:
“There are a lot of things in football that we like or don’t like. One big thing I really don’t like is people going down and pretending to be injured. But doing that… I can’t accept it.
“I know there will be Manchester United fans watching this show and saying: ‘Oh, it’s because he’s a Manchester United player, it’s because he’s a foreign player.’ In this show, about five or six years ago, Harry Kane did the same thing in the game between Tottenham Hotspur and Everton and I said the same thing, I couldn’t accept it. I didn’t see the reaction of Bruno’s foot, that’s the reaction of his foot, that’s the kick he made.
Foden makes a mistake but Fernandez overreacts
Carragher has a point when he says Fernandes made the contact look worse than it looked. The Portugal midfielder’s dramatic decline in form has inevitably affected the debate surrounding his dismissal.
But the problem was Foden’s own making.
The referee determined that his second kick was an act of violence, and VAR supported referee Michael Oliver’s decision. Professional referees later insisted the red card itself was correct, although the referee later admitted there had been a separate VAR error on Haaland’s winning goal.
Fernandes may not have looked particularly good after the incident, but the ultimate responsibility lies with Foden for revenge.
A bigger frustration for United was that the controversy saw them have a numerical advantage for much of the game, but they were still unable to take advantage. Arguably, this defeat was more important than Fernandez’s performance.
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