Erik ten Hag blasts the referee and VAR for not giving a penalty in Southampton stalemate

Speaking to Sky Sports (h/t Express), Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag blasts the referee and VAR for not giving a penalty when Marcus Rashford went down in the box against Southampton.

Late in the second half, Rashford went around the Saints goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu and fell down in the box. The referee and the VAR had a look at it and decided to not give a penalty.

In the first half, Casemiro made a bad tackle on Carlos Alcaraz and was rightly sent off. It finished goalless even though there were 27 attempts in the game from both sides and the woodwork was hit multiple times.

Here’s what ten Hag about the Rashford incident (h/t Express):

 “Definitely [a penalty]. There’s no doubt. I don’t know why VAR didn’t interrupt. Casemiro played over 500 games in Europe and never once got a red card. Now he has two in the Premier League. His absence is not the issue. We will deal with that. This game was influenced by the referee.”

If the manager takes another look at the Rashford non-penalty decision, he would have a different thing to say because it was a blatant dive from the forward. The ball went away from him and he decided to jump over and fall.

About Casemiro’s red card, it was a challenge without any control and with his boot very high. Once the referee went to have a look at that on the monitor, he will only give one decision after that.

After the hammering defeat at Liverpool last Sunday, it was two points dropped from United, that too at home to a relegation-threatened side.

As a result, instead of looking up in the table, ten Hag’s men have to look at fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who are only two points behind them now. Before the March international break, United have a second leg against Real Betis on Thursday, before a home game in the FA Cup quarter-final against Fulham.

More Manchester United News:

• Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag provides injury updates on Anthony Martial and Christian Eriksen
• Erik ten Hag won’t ignore the kicking issues displayed by David de Gea against Real Betis
• Lisandro Martinez believes Manchester United showed more fight in second half to beat Real Betis

Progressing in those competitions would be important for what is to come in the latter half of this season.