Manchester United crushed Leicester City 3-0 during their Premier League game on Sunday at Old Trafford. Though it looked like an easy assignment for the hosts, United midfielder Marcel Sabitzer picked up a lot of controversies after his nasty-looking tackle on opposition defender Wout Faes received no card from referee Stuart Attwell. Following the decision, a number of former footballers and experts have voiced their opinion on the matter. While former Liverpool captain Graeme Souness believed the challenge had deserved a card, United legend Gary Neville backed the referee’s call.
The event transpired moments before the first-half whistle. Manchester United was leading by one goal scored by their star forward Marcus Rashford in the 25th minute. The Red Devils were looking promising to extend their lead and were frequently invading the opposition’s defence. During one of their attacks, Sabitzer was just outside of Leicester’s penalty area where he made the challenge on Faes.
As it was a clumsy situation there, the on-field official needed to take the aid of the VAR. After giving the tackle a second check, the video team confirmed Sabitzer was not guilty. Leicester was evidently frustrated by the decision but could not convince the referee.
After the match, footballer-turned-pundit Souness expressed his dissatisfaction over Sabitzer’s tackle, saying that the midfielder went out to “do” his opponent. For a reason, he pointed at Sabitzer’s posture during the event and claimed that his challenge had nothing to do with the ball.
“I don’t care what some referee who’s never played the game has to say on that, that is a sending-off. Ask any professional footballer, Sabitzer is turned side-on, that’s a classic case of setting yourself up to do someone. If he makes contact with the ball, what’s he going to do with the ball? He’s looking at the player,” Souness explained, as quoted by Mirror. Fellow expert Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink agreed with him and said, “I have seen them be given. I was definitely surprised when it was not yellow at least.”
Although, according to anchor Dave Jones, the reason behind not showing the red card was justified since Sabitzer’s challenge was not judged to have enough momentum or power to result in an instant dismissal. Gary Neville concurred with that statement, saying, “I thought he withdrew very quickly and didn’t follow through with the force required.”
Manchester United continued their dominance in the second half. Rashford increased the lead in the 56th minute, completing his brace. Only after five minutes, Jadon Sancho put the final nail in Leicester’s coffin by scoring the third. Currently, the Red Devils are third in the Premier League standings, only three points behind their local rivals Manchester City.
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