Darren Bent fumes at double standards after Aleksandar Mitrovic’s red card and Bruno Fernandes for going unpunished for pushing a linesman.
Aleksandar Mitrovic went from hero to zero as he put the Cottagers on course to victory in Sunday’s FA Cup quarter final at Old Trafford.
However, Man Utd were penalised for Willian’s handball on the line, with the Brazilian was sent off. This left Mitrovic unhappy, leading to him nudging and getting up in the referee’s face, so he received his marching orders while Marco Silva was also dismissed for complaining to the referee as he looked at the VAR monitor.
ABSOLUTE SCENES AT OLD TRAFFORD!! š³
Tempers are flaring as Fulham go from 1-0 up to conceding a penalty and going down to 9-men… š¤Æ#ITVFootball | @EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/6vWTYNgRGT
ā ITV Football (@itvfootball) March 19, 2023
Aleksandar MitroviÄ š Bruno Fernandes
Dermot Gallagher discusses the difference between Aleksandar MitroviÄ touching Chris Kavanagh and Bruno Fernandes touching the linesman against Liverpool. š¤ pic.twitter.com/Zmq0hYie3t
ā Football Daily (@footballdaily) March 20, 2023
Ex-footballer turned pundit Darren Bent wasn’t impressed by the consistency of the officials. He referred to Bruno Fernandes pushing the assistant referee during Man Utd’s 7-1 defeat at Liverpool.
On Twitter he raged: āBruno gets nothing for pushing a linesman but Mitrovic gets a straight red for bumping the ref, inconsistent VAR. Embarrassing.ā
Bruno gets nothing for pushing a linesman but mitrovic gets a straight red for bumping the ref , inconsistent VAR Embarrassing
ā Darren Bent (@DarrenBent) March 19, 2023
In the game against Fulham, after those dramatic few minutes, Fernandes equalised for United from the penalty, before Marcel Sabitzer gave them an unassailable 2-1 lead.
Fernandes then scored his side’s third goal as they took advantage of their opponents going down to nine.
Silva was asked if he thought Mitrovic would be given a long ban like the one handed to Paolo Di Canio in Sheffield Wednesday’s 1998 for pushing Paul Alcock to his feet.
āI didnāt see in a so, so bad way,ā the boss said. āHe pushed the referee and Mitro should control his emotions. I saw the image and I will speak with him.
āBut I hope the people who are going to decide do so with fairness that the moment deserves.ā
On the Fernandes incident against Liverpool, the Portugal international could be seen demanding for the ball back from Trent Alexander-Arnold to take a throw-in for Manchester United.
The midfielder was briefly stopped by the linesman before Fernandes appears to nudge the official in the back as he enters the field of play to go and retrieve the ball.
ā Sham Darr š° (@shamacle) March 20, 2023
“I actually have mixed feelings about it. You don’t want a player to be manhandling an official, but I think the linesman manhandles Fernandes more than the other way round.
“I think once the official does it first, Fernandes is almost fly-swatting, ‘get out of my way’ I want to get on with it.
“I don’t condone it, and I think the referee is in a difficult position, because if he goes over then Fernandes is likely to say ‘well he grabbed hold of me first’.
“I don’t think it’s wise [for the official]. I watched a game years ago at West Brom where the assistant grabbed hold of a player and they swiped round not knowing who it was.
“If he’d then caught him in the mouth, he’s looking at a 12-match ban. So you’ve got to be mindful of wanting to prevent things happening, but we can’t make a big thing of Fernandes pushing out at him when he’s received it himself.”
This is what fans said as Darren Bent fumes at double standards after Mitrovic’s red card and Fernandes going unpunished…
@TheExiledRobin: Hi Darren, the referee didnāt use VAR to send off Mitrovic. Arenāt you watching? Hope that helps?
@AdamButler483: Iām not gonna sit here and say these incidents were on par, they werenāt. Mitrovic was much worse, however they both should have been sent off as putting hands on an official should never be accepted
@SalfordMe2023: The head of referees said Bruno got nothing because the linesman laid hands on him first. Sorry, I know you don’t like facts interfering with your anti-United rhetoric š
@andysimms1989: Linesman put his hands on Fernandes first in that game and the Lino didnāt make any complaints. Mitrovic made an effort to approach the ref and barge into him big ban needed for him
@jimmymcbride1: Stop embarrassing yourself Darren
@adamhembrow1: It’s a card in both situations. A small rule change, any intentional contact with the ref is a card, which the level of aggressiveness deciding a yellow or red. Prevention is better than cure
@i_am_bmiller: You canāt compare the two!! Itās funny how something goes in āUniteds favourā and all of sudden people are crying for consistency!!
@DarrenW121266: Got to laugh at Man U protecting the ref when every game they are surrounding the ref
@andypryor68: Darren, just donāt. Praise Kavanagh for having the balls to stand up to an out of control player & stand up for 10s of thousands of grass roots refs that get a lot of abuse week in week out
@antallen1: A shove is a shove. Both shoved officials, red card was only showed to one of them. Mitro did go over the top aggressive once the card had been shown. Both should get bans
@PilotDaveLI: Either way Mitrovic was COMPLETELY out of line. Clear hand ball clear red. And then absolutely a red for Mitrovic. Bruno for sure out of line but we have to look at each incident for what it is. Ref was spot on with everything just now, and i can’t stand United !
@Mike7Mufc: Bumping is an interesting way of describing that. Both shouldāve been a red. One mistake shouldnāt set the precedent. Do you believe players should be allowed to put their hands on officials?
@RichardKeenan3: The official put his hand on Bruno first, which is in violation of the officiating rule book on their overall conduct. Bruno has every right to brush him aside as explained by refereeing experts. Stick to the radio mate
@RP_Field: Get out of it. One was a little push in the back one a player was in his face giving him a shove. Set you up perfectly for you talk sport nonsense hasn’t it.
@refc160: Mitrovic assaulted the ref (without provocation), what are you on about?! With Bruno, the linesman touched/pushed him first. Think there are differences.
@oldrutsfootball: For bumping the Ref? What a Joke. He should not have made contact at all with the Ref and he deserves a long ban. Respect for Officials should start at the top.. there lays the problem which affects grass roots.
@AdamJeffers:
1. 2 wrongs don’t make a right, correct decision here.
2. The level of aggression was completely different, screaming and pointing in the face etc by mitrovic,
3. Linesman manhandled Bruno first, no one touched mitrovic.
Mitrovic was a disgrace and embarrassing!
@CraigLingard: It’s embarrassing that you’re annoyed at VAR and not at a player putting his hands on a ref. It’s stuff like this that make it “normal” for refs in junior or Sunday league to get the abuse they do. Show some balls and give him a big ban to protect people further down the ladder
@_callumstone: Two completely different situations that can be in no way compared. One guy squared up and pushed the ref and the other stopped a goal with his hand yet pundits of a certain radio station are claiming corruption. They absolutely hate us and their agendas are ridiculous.
@AndyMk_83: Oh here we go. We’ve been fuckin shithoused with decision lately and a stone wall pen and red cards are given and this is the response. We all could have predicted it in fairness.
@MattyArsenalFC: I hate United most of the time, but this is a ridiculous comparison. Bruno was moving the lino out of the way as he wanted to get play going quickly. Mitro looked like he was about 2 seconds away from decking the ref.
@Lufcburny: Slight difference, Mitrovic was literally in his face wanting a fight. Fernandes shouldn’t have put his hands on the liner but it was completely different circumstances.
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