Erik ten Hag Criticizes Rashford’s Red Card and Refereeing Decisions in Manchester United’s Defeat
Erik ten Hag expressed his frustration with Marcus Rashford’s red card and criticized the refereeing decisions that contributed to Manchester United’s painful defeat in Denmark on Wednesday night. Despite being two goals ahead against Copenhagen, United lost 4-3 at Parken Stadium.
Ten Hag was particularly displeased with the decisions that have left United at the bottom of Champions League Group A, with their hopes of reaching the knockout stages hanging by a thread.
“The red card changes everything,” stated the United manager. “I think when you freeze frame it, it always looks so much worse, and as I say, it takes them so long, and they make a red card of it.
“Come on. The first 25 minutes, we dictated, dominated the game, went 2-0 up, and then the red card changes everything. We are down to 10, and we are very disappointed.
“We conceded two goals before half-time, which should never count. The first is offside, with a player in front of Andre Onana.
“The second is a penalty that’s very harsh. The ball on the hand, but it’s so close, and the hand is in such a normal position. He (Harry Maguire) went for the ball, and the ref needs such a long time. That is in four games, four penalties against us, and I say three are very debatable.
“I’m very disappointed about such decisions. The game is never meant to be like this. This has nothing to do with football.
“Decisions have to be made, and I accept that wrong decisions are also made at this level. Three such tough decisions (against FC Copenhagen). You control the game, and the game is never meant to be like that.”
Despite the disappointment, Ten Hag praised the resilience shown by his players in the face of adversity.
“This squad is resilient, and throughout the season, so many decisions have been against us, so many setbacks due to injuries,” he added. “I said to the lads it will turn; at one moment in the season, it will turn in our favor.”
Copenhagen’s comeback spoiled Rasmus Hojlund’s homecoming, as the Dane scored twice in the first half against his old club.
“We started very well,” commented Hojlund. “We controlled the game until the red card, and that changed the game. If you don’t look at the result, we did quite well, but we switched off a little bit.
“I know how the crowd can help the team here. We did quite well at the beginning of the second half, but it’s unfortunate that we are here with zero points again.”