Aniket Rai
Michael Owen has heavily criticized Fred for his red card in the 3-1 loss to PSG
Speaking to BT Sport (h/t Mirror), former Manchester United player Michael Owen slammed Brazilian midfielder Fred for his red card against PSG and said that he would never start for the club if it was up to him.
The 27-year-old central midfielder escaped a sending off in the first half after he barged his head in the direction of PSG’s Leandro Paredes.
The incident was deemed worthy of just a yellow card but the Brazilian knew he was walking on thin ice from that point onwards.
However, Fred received a second yellow card in the second half for a mistimed tackle on PSG’s midfielder Ander Herrera, who spent 5 years with the Red Devils before departing in the summer of 2019.
Michael Owen said that Fred’s attempted headbutt on Paredes was itself worthy of a red card and placed some blame on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for not substituting Fred after his initial yellow card.
“Mistakes all-round really. It was a red card. There wasn’t much [in the headbutt] but come on, you’re a grown man. You don’t have to do these petulant little things to put your team at risk.”
Owen went on to criticize Fred’s actions and said that the Brazilian would never play for Manchester United again if it were up to him.
“If I was a manager and one of my players did this, just pure petulance, then he wouldn’t play for me again. It’s pathetic really.”
United went behind after just 6 minutes as Brazilian forward Neymar opened the scoring for PSG. Marcus Rashford equalized around the half-hour mark before Marquinhos scored in the 69th minute to put PSG in front again.
Any chance of a United comeback was doused after Fred was sent off in the 70th minute. PSG pushed on and Neymar scored his second of the night to put PSG 3-1 in front in added time.
The result at Old Trafford leaves Manchester United level on points with PSG and RB Leipzig going into matchday 6 of the Champions League. United would need to avoid against RB Leipzig next week to qualify to the last-16.
