What annoyed you most about Leicester City’s defeat at Old Trafford?
Leicester City deservedly lost at Manchester United on Sunday but there were still plenty of irritating incidents along the way. We’ll be over it once we’ve got these out of our systems.
It's probably pretty obvious but the officiating was a complete joke.
The Sabitzer ‘challenge’ was probably the most blatant red card you'll see all season. Stuart Attwell was looking straight at it and for VAR to not even look at it or at the very least send him to the monitor was disgraceful.
We were the better side in the first half and didn't deserve to be behind, so for them not to go down to 10 men changed the game.
The second Rashford goal also looked offside to the naked eye. The linesman is looking directly across the line and had his flag up, yet the decision is being made 200 miles away in Uxbridge. If you look at the Barnes one against Spurs it's almost identical, and when they draw the lines it's almost as if they’re making it up as they go along.
It's good to see the Old Trafford bias is still alive and well!
Jordan Halford
I was going to have a moan about the Sabitzer ‘challenge’ but numerous Manchester United fans have reminded me what a gent he is for compassionately retracting his foot and not ending Faes’s career.
So instead: Danny Ward. One-on-ones.
I don’t think I have ever seen a keeper who manages to make himself smaller and less imposing when faced with a one-on-one chance, and his performance was made more painful after David de Gea’s heroics in the first half.
Nobody can blame him for conceding those two chances to the most in-form player in the league, but this season there has been a worrying sense of inevitability once a player bears down on our goal.
Ward has put in some good performances and has noticeably improved our set-piece defending, but it’s clear that he just isn’t ‘at the level’.
It’s a feeling which seems to permeate through the team, into the stands, and probably through to the opposition. It has to be the key position to address this summer in my view.
Matt Jedruch
My specific gripe with the Sabitzer incident is that while it should have been a red card in my opinion, even if you think it isn’t because - and just come with me on this one - there wasn’t a follow through and you could argue there wasn’t excessive force behind it… even then, there are two elements that annoy me.
Firstly, the idea that if that had been committed by a Leicester player (or pretty much any other team in the division at Old Trafford), they wouldn’t be straight down the tunnel is utterly laughable.
Secondly, what would have happened if Faes had been seriously injured? This was a genuine possibility even if the action wasn’t a full-on Keane or Souness effort. Then would we have just carried on as if nothing had happened? So do players need to be seriously injured for those kind of things to be punished?
I’ve always been strongly against VAR and the use of slow-motions replays from several angles to try to referee what should be a fast-flowing game with room for human error, but once you’ve got it, you’re asking for trouble not using it correctly.
David Bevan
The chances we missed in the period we were on top (and having a substandard goalkeeper).
Unfortunately, I'm not surprised by the abysmal decisions from the officials, so although I'm still absolutely furious about them, it's not a shock.
You're always up against it away at Old Trafford, so you've got to focus on yourselves. For around 30 minutes we really went at United, but didn't take one of the big chances, whereas they took their first - that’s the difference.
We did come up against De Gea in top form, but that adds to the frustration focussing back on us, because we set up with a number 2 goalkeeper between the sticks every week.
Danny Ward didn't commit any particular obvious howlers at Old Trafford, but he instils no confidence into the side, seems to make one-on-ones easier for the opposition and I'm sure he jumped over Rashford's second.
Becky Taylor
There were a number of big frustrations with the match last Sunday but I'm going to pick out a smaller one.
For Rashford's second goal, as the ball is played through, Castagne breaks his stride to turn and appeal for offside.
Why?
It's 2023 and VAR is in operation. The assistant referee won't flag until the play is finished and it's irrelevant as it gets 'appealed' with a VAR check anyway.
With Castagne now miles back and Ward coming out of his goal but somehow seemingly widening the angle, it was an easy finish for the in-form Rashford.
Iain Wright
