Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has criticised the decision to award Manchester United a penalty during their Premier League clash at Old Trafford on Sunday. The Eagles led 1-0 at half-time through Maxence Lacroix's header, but the defender's red card in the second half proved pivotal.
Lacroix was sent off for pulling Matheus Cunha to the ground, with referee Chris Kavanagh pointing to the spot after a VAR review. Kavanagh stated: 'After review, Crystal Palace number five commits a clear holding offence which denies a clear, obvious, goal scoring opportunity. Final decision is penalty and red card.'
Glasner expressed his frustration after the match, saying: 'The red card changed the game completely. I think it's a very hard decision. The foul starts outside the box. Matheus Cunha is very smart to wait until he is inside the box and fall down.' He added: 'It still feels it's the wrong decision. It's not a penalty, maybe a red card for a foul outside the box, but the foul starts outside the box. It's maybe a little bit the Old Trafford bounce.'
Palace defender Chris Richards also weighed in, describing Cunha as 'smart' and acknowledging the difficulty of playing at Old Trafford. 'When you're playing away at a place like Old Trafford, more than likely the home team is going to get a call like that but that is the nature of the game,' Richards told Sky Sports.
