Manchester United 0-0 Southampton: Casemiro’s sees red in entertaining goalless draw

A week after his character was called into question following a devastating seven-goal defeat at Anfield, Manchester United were put to the test again at Old Trafford by having to play for an hour with 10 men following Casemiro’s second sending off of the season. . .

The Brazilian was shown a straight red card for his challenge on Carlos Alcaraz after VAR advised referee Anthony Taylor to review his initial decision to only book Casemiro.

This time, however, United stood their ground and Old Trafford came out behind them to help them out. In one of the most entertaining goalless draws you’re likely to see, a reinvigorated Southampton hit the woodwork twice and United once.

David de Gea produced a brilliant save from Theo Walcott and Gavin Buzunu from Bruno Fernandes. United’s frustration with Taylor was only exacerbated by the fact that he rejected two strong penalty appeals.

In the end, United had lost more points after the Anfield debacle, but manager Erik ten Hag will be immensely happier with the character and courage of his players in the face of adversity.

The key incident occurred just after the half hour mark when Alcaraz chased down a pass from Theo Walcott. It was a direct 50-50 challenge between the Southampton number 26 and Casemiro, who had every right to go for the ball as both players reached it at the same time.

There were two problems for the Brazilian. First of all, both feet clearly left the ground. Second, he may have made contact with the ball first, but the contact was stronger with Alcaraz’s right shin on the follow-up.

While the Argentine writhed on the ground, Che Adams led the calls from his teammates demanding the maximum sanction from the referee. As soon as Taylor decided that he alone deserved the yellow card for Casemiro, VAR official Andre Marriner told him to look at the pitch-side monitor again.

From then on, it felt like a formality. Taylor upgraded the yellow to red and Casemiro buried his head in his shirt. It’s only been five weeks since he was sent off here for grabbing Will Hughes by the throat in a game against Crystal Palace. A second red card this season means he now faces a four-match ban, missing games against Fulham, Newcastle, Brentford and Everton.

The 31-year-old looked distraught as Antony and David de Gea comforted him on his way through the tunnel, stopping to hug Alcaraz, who was able to carry on until early in the second half.

The setback seemed to galvanize the supporters inside Old Trafford, who until then had been preoccupied with venting their feelings on the owners, the more so after two controversial penalty decisions before the break.

In the 40th minute, Fernandes fell under a sliding challenge from Kyle Walker-Peters, who received the ball first but caught the United captain with his follow-up.

Fernandes protested furiously to Taylor, but then collected himself and placated his teammates, perhaps mindful of the fierce criticism of his lack of leadership at Anfield.

He could hardly contain his frustration again three minutes later when Armel Bella-Kotchap handled a low cross from Marcus Rashford. The Saints defender had slipped to his knees and the ball had clearly caught his left arm. The question was whether Bella-Kotchap could have avoided the contact and the referee decided that he couldn’t.

Like Fernandes, Wout Weghorst is not shy about letting the referees know how he feels and the big Dutchman was still grumbling when he left the pitch moments later when Ten Hag sent Scott McTominay to replace Casemiro and sacrificed a striker. .

It was a hectic end to what had started as a rather mundane afternoon in Manchester. Saints goalkeeper Bazunu stopped Rashford, who went for goal rather than square the ball off a furious Weghorst, then ran to suffocate at the feet of the in-form United striker. Fernandes curled up from 25 yards out.

De Gea made the best save of the first half, deflecting Walcott’s header from close range after Luke Shaw had outplayed Luke Shaw’s Romain Perraud cross.

After two wins in three league games under new manager Ruben Selles, the Saints posed a threat even before Casemiro’s departure, which saw Taylor leave the field to a cacophony of half-time boos when Ten Hag got into fourth official Stuart Attwell’s ear.

A breathless second half produced less controversy but more in the way of goalkeeping action. Aaron Wan-Bissaka had to clear the line after McTominay inadvertently deflected the ball past De Gea, and James Ward-Prowse hit the top of the bar as he came close to equaling David Beckham’s Premier League record for score on 18 free throws.

Walker-Peters also struck the frame of De Gea’s goal with a ferocious effort, and the woodwork at the other end prevented United from impeding him as Shaw attacked Fernandes, whose 20-yard effort was brilliantly tapped off the post by Bazunu when the ball rolled back. through the goal.

Arguably the best chance of the match came for Southampton on 64 minutes when United lost possession from a corner and Bella-Kotchap cleared Walcott from midfield.

A younger Walcott would likely have outpaced Lisandro Martinez and beaten De Gea. But at 33, some of that breakneck pace is gone and Martinez was able to come back and put off Walcott before De Gea stopped his effort.

Ten Hag sent out Alejandro Garnacho and Facundo Pellistri for Jadon Sancho and Antony, but Garnacho only lasted 16 minutes after being hurt by another Walker-Peters sliding tackle.

The young Argentinian was able to continue after the treatment on his right ankle, but it was withdrawn at the last minute of regulation time. United had lost enough players for one day.