Manchester United coach, Erik Ten Hag questioned the performance of the referee when his team met Barcelona in the first leg of the 2022-2023 Europa League top 16 playoff. According to him, there were several refereeing decisions that were detrimental to his team in the match.
As is known, the Barcelona vs Manchester United match ended on Thursday (16/2/2023). The match which took place at the Camp Nou ended with a score of 2-2.
Meanwhile, Barcelona took the lead via Marcos Alonso (50′). Then Manchester United took the lead through Marcus Rashford in the 52nd minute and a Jules Kounde own goal (59′), before Raphinha finally equalized in the 76th minute.
Seeing the failure of his team to gain victory, Erik Ten Hag looked disappointed. Erik Ten Hag’s disappointment was not focused on his team’s performance.
For him, Marcus Rashford et al have played optimally. He only regretted the leadership of the referee on the field.
To note again, the referee who led the match Barcelona vs Manchester United was Maurizio Mariani. The match referee from Italy was considered by Erik Ten Hag to have made several decisions that were detrimental to his team.
One of them was when they fouled Marcus Rashford. The Dutch tactician considered that Manchester United should have deserved a penalty, because of that violation.
However, Maurizio Mariani did not consider this a violation in the forbidden box. Instead of looking at the VAR to make sure, Maurizio Mariani chose to continue the match, without any penalty.
“I think the referee also has a big influence on this game,” he said as quoted from the official Manchester United website, Friday (17/2/2023).
“I think it was a clear foul on Rashford. You can discuss whether it is in or out of the box. But this is one on one with the goalkeeper,” he explained.
“I question that. No way, the referee can make a mistake like that. I think we have VAR. So I think it’s not good and it’s a very bad decision.”
Regardless of that result, Manchester United will again meet Barcelona in the second leg of the 2022-2023 Europa League top 16 playoff. The match will take place at Old Trafford on Friday, 24 February 2023.
