Wes: If you give one, you have to give the other
Former Manchester United defender Wes Brown has had his say about our disallowed goal against Sheffield United.
The Treble winner was in the MUTV studio for the Reds’ Premier League encounter with the Blades on Wednesday evening.
In what was a hard-fought game between United and the Yorkshire outfit, fine margins played a deciding role. Referee Peter Bankes did not give a foul on Billy Sharp for his actions towards David De Gea ahead of the visitor’s opener. Then, in a similar situation later on, a free-kick was given when Harry Maguire went for the same ball as Sheffield United keeper Aaron Ramsdale. Anthony Martial put the loose ball in the empty net but the whistle had already been blown and the finish never counted.
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United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was not happy with the calls and got support from his former team-mate in his post-match analysis.
"If you’ve given one, you’ve got to give the other," Brown said.
"It’s as simple as that really. Harry has jumped straight up and he [Ramsdale] has missed the ball. The referee gives a foul. On the other hand, you see Sharp has a little nudge that puts David off. I don’t think that’s right at all. If you are giving one, you’ve got to give the other. The officials have got that completely wrong. Simple as that."
Brown, who played for the first team from 1998 to 2011, was surprised and disappointed by United’s performance under the floodlights at Old Trafford. But the former defender emphasised that it's now all about bouncing back after the defeat.
"It’s not the end of the world," he said.
"I will say that these are the games we’re probably expected to win because we’re pushing at the top now. We’ve got to make sure we beat the teams at the bottom. We weren’t at a high standard tonight. We know we’re better than that. We have to be take any positives into the next game. This one was disappointing and we didn’t expect it."
Ole's team will be hoping that this weekend is the start of another lengthy unbeaten run, as we look to continue our fine start to the 2020/21 Premier League season.