'Disgrace': Richard Keys says VAR made two big mistakes in Manchester United 1-3 Brighton
Today at 12:15 PM
Manchester United were dragged back down to Earth on Sunday after suffering defeat to Brighton at Old Trafford.
The euphoria of last week’s FA Cup win over Arsenal was swiftly erased after Yankuba Minteh put Brighton 1-0 within just five minutes, and despite Bruno Fernandes equalising from the spot, goals from Kaoru Mitoma and Georginio Rutter eventually secured a 3-1 win for the Seagulls.
It means Ruben Amorim has tasted victory just once in the last six Premier League outings, with Manchester United’s only win in that space of time coming against Southampton, who sit bottom on six points.
However, Richard Keys felt life should have been made easier for Manchester United against Brighton through the issuing of a red card.
Richard Keys says Carlos Baleba should have been sent off
The 67-year-old was left outraged on X (previously known as Twitter) after Carlos Baleba fouled Joshua Zirkzee.
Keys felt the Cameroon international should have been dismissed by Peter Bankes, writing: “Nailed on pen for Utd – but why wasn't Baleba sent off? It was a clear denial with no attempt to play the ball. Amazing. Not one – but two refs got it wrong.”
Of course, some will know of the double jeopardy rule.
The FA rulebook states: "Where a player commits an offence against an opponent within their own penalty area, which denies an opponent an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and the referee awards a penalty kick, the offender is cautioned if the offence was an attempt to play the ball; in all other circumstances (e.g. holding, pulling, pushing, no possibility to play the ball etc.) the offending player must be sent off."
Baleba, who Arsenal are scouting, basically had Zirkzee in a headlock, so Keys is right – how Bankes and those in the VAR booth decided the Brighton No.20 was making an attempt to play the ball is beyond us.
Richard Keys adds Manchester United got lucky after disallowed Joao Pedro goal
While the BeIN Sports pundit took Manchester United’s side regarding the Baleba situation, he felt Brighton were also hard done by after seeing a goal from Joao Pedro disallowed.
The Brazilian was denied after Jan Paul van Hecke was adjudged to have fouled Diogo Dalot in the buildup, kicking the Portugal international’s foot as the Dutchman attempted to get a toe on the ball.
Keys – who doubts Manchester United can sell Marcus Rashford – cried: “They're having a laugh. What a disgrace disallowing that Brighton goal. Absolute joke. Scandalous.”
We agree with his verdict on the Baleba challenge – although Bankes was right to disallow Pedro’s effort, with clear contact being made by Van Hecke on Dalot.
