Manchester United star Casemiro was sent off after appearing to grab the neck of Will Hughes during a melee as the Red Devils defeated Crystal Palace, with the club weighing up an appeal
Full footage of the incident which led to Casemiro being sent off during Manchester United’s win over Crystal Palace appears to change the landscape of the situation.
The United midfielder was shown a straight red card by Andre Marriner with 20 minutes remaining after a scuffle broke out between the two sides. Video Assistant Referee Tony Harrington advised Marriner to check the pitch-side monitor over a possible Casemiro sending off after footage appeared to show him grabbing the neck of Will Hughes.
The Red Devils were able to hold on to claim all three points to move above Newcastle in the Premier League table. As it stands, Casemiro is set to be suspended for United’s next three top-flight games, against Leeds and Leicester City.
But new footage of the incident has emerged on social media which casts fresh light on the incident. The footage was published on the TikTok account of @strettyend and begins when Antony is forcefully challenged by Jeffery Schlupp.
It then shows four United players, including the winger, surrounding Schlupp, with more players from both sides joining in the melee. The neck grab from Casemiro itself cannot be seen on the footage, with a body of players between the camera and that incident.
The footage continues to roll as tempers calm down and the two teams break up. As that happens, Casemiro can be seen hugging Hughes, as well as laughing with the Palace star, suggesting there was little animosity between the duo.
Another angle of the incident was also shown on Match of the Day, which further adds to the idea that Casemiro was unjustly sent off. The angle comes from the stand directly in front of the melee, with Casemiro’s grab on Hughes front and centre.
This angle appears to show Casemiro grabbing Hughes by the shirt, not by the neck. That led to former Premier League winner Alan Shearer branding the decision to send off the United star as “harsh”.
“I thought it was a harsh red card because there’s a melee in the corner, you can see everybody coming together. There’s pushing and shoving and grabbing and everything else,” Shearer said.
“Then the referee’s actually sent to the screen. Watch the referee when he goes to the screen, the angle that he’s shown, he’s shown a still, he’s shown it in slow motion in that position and that angle.
“But there’s another angle where it doesn’t look anywhere near as bad. This angle on here. He can see it there closely, he’s got hold of him, he’s got hold of him yes. By the shirt rather than round the neck.”
The emergence of the new pieces of footage of the incident comes as boss Erik ten Hag admitted United were weighing up an appeal. They have a small window to lodge one before the clash with Leeds on Wednesday.
“First of all, we have to deal with it and we will do, but it is not right,” Ten Hag said. “It shouldn’t have happened. This was avoidable and because in this incident there have to be consequences and they are inconsistent and that is not right, that is not fair against us.
“We have to think about [appealing]. But be fair, we have seen when you’re freezing (the frame), Casemiro is crossing the line. But many more players were crossing the line there.
“We get also some warnings about our team reacting like this and I think you have to do it, you have to protect each other but we want to keep our standards and values at Man United, keep them high.”
SOURCE: mirror.co.uk
