Topics: Man Utd, Manchester United, Athletic Bilbao, Bruno Fernandes, Europa League
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes was in no mood to allow the Spanish press to blame Athletic Club's defeat to the Red Devils on the referee.
Man Utd benefited from a key incident in the first half in Bilbao. The visitors were already a goal ahead in their Europa League semi-final first leg fixture at San Mames when a VAR check resulted in a penalty for a foul on Rasmus Hojlund.
Athletic's Dani Vivian was also shown a straight red card on review before Fernandes tucked in the penalty, later adding United's third to put them firmly in the driving seat ahead of the second leg at Old Trafford.
Fernandes was on post-match media duty and gave short shrift to the idea that United had been helped by the match referee and the VAR.
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Asked what he thought of the referee and whether he might have "disadvantaged" Athletic, Fernandes laughed off the suggestion.
"Do you think it wasn't a penalty?" asked the Portuguese midfielder.
"I think it could have been a penalty, but no – it wasn't a red card," the reporter replied.
Football's law-making body, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) changed the law around denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity in 2016, deeming the so-called 'triple jeopardy' – a penalty, a red card and a subsequent suspension – to be too harsh a punishment for defenders and especially goalkeepers who commit a foul in an honest attempt to defend.
Denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity inside the penalty area no longer results in an automatic red card but lots of fans and journalists, even players and managers, haven't read beyond the headline even now.
Fernandes set this particular reporter straight on an important matter: denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity in the penalty area will still result in a red card if the player committing the offence has not made a genuine attempt to win the ball.
"Why wasn't it a red? Do you know the rules?" asked the Red Devils skipper.
"I'll explain. Yes, yes, yes. He tries with his feet to make a tackle, it's a yellow. But if he pushes him or does it with his hands, it has to be red.
"I think there was a penalty on [Alejandro] Garnacho that wasn't called.
As for the broader suggestion that the referee had impacted the outcome, Fernandes wasn't having any of it.
"I think talking about the referee here is a habit that there is a lot of in Spain and Portugal.
"But I'm in England and my mind changed a long time ago. I'm not going to do it because referees are like us, they make mistakes.
"But I don't think it's wrong today."
