The Premier League have explained why Nathan Collins was not given his marching orders by referee Craig Pawson in Brentford's 3-1 victory over Manchester United. The Irish defender looked set to be shown a red card when he hauled down Bryan Mbeumo in the penalty area and denied what appeared to be an obvious goalscoring opportunity. However, the Premier League have explained why it was not a red card.
Collins brings down Mbeumo in the box
After 71 minutes, and with United having already pulled back one goal in their quest to overhaul a two-goal deficit, Matheus Cunha slipped Mbeumo through and beyond the Bees' defence. The Cameroonian forward looked set to get onto the end of the ball and fire a shot on goal, but Collins grabbed his opponent and prevented him from reaching the ball. On first viewing, Collins seemed to have denied Mbeumo an obvious goalscoring opportunity, but was only handed a yellow card by the referee and the decision confirmed by VAR.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportThe Premier League offer an explanation
The Premier League offered a justification of the decision on X, posting: "The referee’s call of penalty was checked and confirmed by VAR – with Collins deemed to pulled Mbeumo back. VAR also checked the referee’s call of yellow card to Collins – and deemed that Mbeumo wasn’t in control of the ball."
United fans may not be too satisfied with the explanation and debate over whether Pawson and the VAR team made the right decision will no doubt continue in the coming days. Mbeumo did not have control of the ball when he was brought down in the penalty area, but he had seemed likely to reach the ball and fire an effort on goal. The double-jeopardy rule, which states a defender making a genuine attempt to play the ball while fouling an opponent cannot be also given a red card, also does not protect Collins in this situation, given his only intention was to impede the onrushing attacker. The Irish defender can count himself fortunate that the Premier League officials deemed Mbeumo too far from the ball to truly have an obvious goal scoring opportunity.
Fernandes falters, Bees buzz
The Red Devils were two goals down after just 20 minutes in the Saturday lunchtime kick-off, with Igor Thiago taking advantage of United's leaky defence to fire them ahead. Benjamin Sesko then added his first goal in a United shirt after 26 minutes to give the away side a glimmer of hope that they would get back into the game. Amorim's side continued to push for a leveller and when Mbeumo was brought down, they would have expected to equalise and have enough time to push for a winner. Yet, that would soon prove not to be the case.
The time between the foul and Bruno Fernandes' eventual spot-kick lasted five minutes, with stoppages for VAR checks and Brentford substitutions slowing the game down. United, already feeling aggrieved that they were still up against 11 players, had their frustrations compounded when their skipper's weak penalty was saved by a sprawling Caoimhin Kelleher. The penalty miss added to the dismay at Collins' yellow card, for the foul on Mbeumo ultimately went unpunished by the Red Devils. The Bees were able to see off further United attacks and even added a third, game-sealing goal through Mathias Jensen in the dying moments of the game.
Getty Images SportUnited slip to 12th and remain short of ideas
The win for Brentford meant the Bees leapfrogged Amorim's side into 11th spot at the Red Devils' expense. United's tumultuous start to the Premier League season continues and their hunt to earn back-to-back wins in the league for the first time under their Portuguese coach. In fact, United have failed to win consecutive games in the Premier League since the start of the last season when they beat Fulham on the first game of the season, following a victory against Brighton in the final fixture of the 2023/24 campaign.
The upcoming fixture list does not get any easier for United either with a home game against high-flying Sunderland followed by a trip to league leaders Liverpool. The Red Devils have not beaten the Reds at Anfield since 2016 and have endured their fair share of thrashings in that time, usually at the ruthless hands of Mohamed Salah. Before Amorim can even think about taking on Arne Slot's side though, there is no guarantee they will bounce back against the Black Cats next week, who are above them in the league with a game in hand.