Man Utd wronged as pundits rally round Casemiro and Ten Hag fumes at repercussions of Palace brawl
Premier League legend Alan Shearer has defended Casemiro after his red card against Crystal Palace and believes a different camera angle, which was not shown by the VAR, completely exonerates the Manchester United midfielder.
The Red Devils secured a 2-1 victory over Patrick Vieira’s men at Old Trafford on Saturday but had to fight hard for three points in for the final 20 minutes of the match after Casemiro was sent off.
A rough challenge from Jeffrey Schlupp on Antony sparked a brawl between both sets of players. And afterwards, Casemiro was singled out by the VAR for having grabbed Palace midfielder Will Hughes around the neck.
United chief Erik ten Hag admitted afterwards that his experienced midfielder had crossed a line. However, he felt Eagles frontman Jordan Ayew should also have seen red and claimed Casemiro was simply trying to stop Hughes from getting involved in the melee.
Shearer also feels the red card was incredibly harsh on the Real Madrid legend. And an alternate camera angle showed there was no malice in Casemiro’s face and he was grabbing Hughes more by the shirt than his neck.
Casemiro victim of poor VAR decision
“There’s a melee in the corner, you can see everyone coming together, there’s pushing and shoving and grabbing and everything else,” said Shearer on Match of the Day.
“And then the referee is actually sent to the screen because of that, but the angle that he’s shown – he’s shown a still, and then he’s showed it in slow motion – in that position [from behind Casemiro] from that angle.
“But there’s another angle where it doesn’t look anywhere near as bad.
“And this angle here [from behind Hughes] you can see it there closely, he’s got hold of him, yes, but by the shirt rather than around the neck.
“There’s a lot more going on, i.e Ayew on Fred and what have you. You can see there’s slaps and pushing and grabbing and everything else.”
“That defender man, Martinez. He is something.”
How is this a red card?
How is this a violent conduct?
Why was this angle was not shown?
3 game ban for this??
Tag @ManUtd@premierleague@rioferdy5 @samuelluckhurst @MrStephenHowson @sistoney67 @Casemiro @MarcusRashford@GNev2 pic.twitter.com/yGG0O1jTz0
— Ayatollah (@dennismungai1) February 4, 2023
Nothing more than handbags
Fellow Match of the Day pundit Ian Wright also felt the decision was unfair on Casmeiro, adding of the skirmish: “I would have loved it! I would have sorted out somebody I don’t really get on with! But the fact is it’s just handbags, just clear it up and get on with it. Very harsh.”
While Ten Hag felt the still image that was shown to referee Andre Marriner sealed Casemiro’s fate, he also stressed that the Brazil star was on the edge of the fracas and was trying to keep Hughes away.
“Casemiro is protecting our player, and protecting the player [Hughes], holding him back. If Casemiro should have been sent off, many more players should have been sent off,” he said.
The victory was another important one for United in their chase for a top-four finish and was a 13th in a row at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag’s men are next on action on Wednesday evening when they host Leeds in the Premier League.
